[Source: SportAccord] Raffaele Chiulli, the President of SportAccord and the Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF), has hailed preparations for the SportAccord World Sport & Business Summit 2020 on a visit to the event’s host city of Beijing, China.
Chiulli has travelled to Beijing along with Stephan Fox, President, AIMS (Alliance of Independent Recognised Members of Sport) and Vice President, GAISF; and Nis Hatt, Managing Director, SportAccord.
The visiting delegation has held meetings with various key figures behind SportAccord 2020 and the broader development of sport in China, including Zhang Jiandong, Vice-Mayor, City of Beijing; Xiaohui Fu, Secretary General, Beijing Olympic City Development Association; and Gou Zhongwen, Minister of the State General Administration of Sports and President, Chinese Olympic Committee.
With registration open for the 18th annual SportAccord event from 19-24 April 2020, discussions in Beijing have focused on the build-up to the highly anticipated global gathering at the China National Convention Center from 19-24 April 2020.
Chiulli said: “After being briefed on the impressive preparations by various stakeholders, we have been left in no doubt that plans are on track to deliver a truly memorable SportAccord next year. With six months to go, this trip has given us the ideal opportunity to gauge the level of excitement that is building ahead of what promises to be an unmissable event.”
Beijing will become only the second city, after Lausanne in Switzerland, to have welcomed back SportAccord for a second time, having staged the 2007 edition of sport’s most influential annual gathering a year before the city hosted the 2008 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games.
With Beijing set to become the first city to have hosted the Summer and Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2022, when the Winter multi-sport showcase arrives in the Chinese capital, SportAccord 2020 will provide a timely signpost for the international sporting community.
Chiulli added: “The organisers and supporters of the SportAccord World Sport & Business Summit 2020 have made no secret of the fact that the event is part of the long-term strategy of Beijing and China at large to promote and accelerate sports development. In our meeting with Minister of the State General Administration of Sports and President of the Chinese Olympic Committee Gou Zhongwen, we spoke at length about the positive role SportAccord can play in driving further progress in sport within China and worldwide.”
On a similar note, the Summit conference programme at SportAccord 2020 will focus on the theme of ‘Breaking Down Barriers in the Ever-Expanding World of Sport’, offering organisations that are seeking to expand their footprint in Asia a chance to learn from the sector’s most influential figures.
Numerous big-name speakers from the host country are being lined up to provide insights on the Summit conference programme, including John Sun, the CEO of Alibaba Group-owned AGTech.
The annual World Sport & Business Summit is a six-day event attended by leaders of the global sports community. It is the only global sports business event attended by all the international sport federations and their stakeholders, who host their Annual General Assemblies during SportAccord.
Attending SportAccord enables delegates to network with sporting leaders at the highest levels, access an extensive conference programme and experience the many opportunities on offer in one location at the world’s leading global sports business event.
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