The inaugural Host City Awards will take place in Glasgow, Scotland to celebrate exceptional accomplishments in hosting, delivering and promoting major events.

The awards form part of the Host City 2024 conference, hosted at the Technology & Innovation Centre on 3-4 December, with winners announced during the Civic Reception and Dinner at the City Chambers on the evening of December 3.

The Impactful Event Hosting award will recognise destinations that demonstrate economic impact, social engagement and environmental sustainability of a major event.

The Resourceful Event Delivery award is open to suppliers and organising committees that have delivered cost-effective, innovative, and sustainable solutions for a major event.

The third category, Engaging the Audience, recognises rights holders that demonstrate significant audience growth and inclusion while innovating fan experiences.

Organisations registered to attend the Host City 2024 conference are eligible to enter for free by 30th October, submitting concise written entries and optional supporting materials.

The diverse judging panel of renowned experts includes Harvey Goldsmith CBE, Promoter, Allegra Roccato, Head of Events, World Physiotherapy, Ralph Straus, Commercial Director, FEI, Jennifer Arnold, Vice President, U.S. Soccer Foundation, Iain Edmondson, Founder, Legacy Delivery, Sarah Lewis OBE OLY, Prem Singh CEO British Kabaddi League, Joanne Deponio, UEFA EURO 2028 UK & Ireland, The FA and Brian Lewis, Immediate Past President, Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee.

This year’s conference boasts an impressive lineup of speakers from around the world, representing top organisations in sports, entertainment, and event management.

Under the theme of “Inspiring Action”, delegates will hear from:

• Marisol Casado, IOC Member and President of World Triathlon
• Katie Sadleir, Chief Executive of the Commonwealth Games Federation
• Susan Deighan, Chief Executive, Glasgow Life
• Vicki Miller, current Director of Marketing and Digital and incoming Chief Executive Officer at VisitScotland
• Harvey Goldsmith CBE, renowned concert promoter and founder of Earth Aid Live
• Sabrina Ibáñez, Secretary General of the FEI and President of APSO
• Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson DBE, DL, Independent Crossbench Peer, The House of Lords
• Shiny Fang, Secretary General of the UIPM
• Richard Smith CBE, Chief Operating Officer of the Invictus Games
• John Langford, COO of AEG Europe
• Colin Grahamslaw, Secretary General of World Curling
• Céline Payell, Vice-President and General Manager of Events & Experiences at Cirque du Soleil
• Matlohang Moiloa-Ramoqopo, IOC Member and Vice-President of ANOCA
• and many more to be announced.

These distinguished figures will share their expertise on a wide range of topics, including technology’s role in event transformation, sustainability strategies, diversity and inclusion, and creating lasting legacies for host cities.

Host City 2024 promises to be an exceptional gathering of global thought leaders, offering unparalleled networking opportunities and insights into the future of event hosting and city development.

Host City 2024 takes place with the support of Hosts and Global Presenting Partners: Glasgow Life and EventScotland, part of VisitScotland.

Vicki Miller, current VisitScotland Director of Marketing and Digital; and incoming Chief Executive Officer, said: “Events play an important role in our communities, bringing a wide range of economic and social benefits while strengthening our position as a world-leading tourism and events destination.

“As the largest meeting of cities, and sports, business and cultural events, we are proud to be continuing our support of Host City as Global Presenting Partner.

“I’m honoured to be joining the line-up of esteemed speakers from around the world to take an in depth look at the role events play in inspiring action at a local, national and international level.”

Susan Deighan, Chief Executive of Glasgow Life, said: “Glasgow is globally renowned for its expertise in delivering world-class events which attract visitors from near and far, boost our economy and international profile, and support the city’s health and wellbeing agenda.

“We are proud of our track record and reputation as a trusted partner and first-choice destination for major brands and worldwide event organisers. We are also committed to ensuring our hosting of events creates a genuine legacy and positive long-term benefits for Glasgow’s diverse communities through a strategic approach to innovation, inclusivity and sustainability.

“The city is delighted to be welcoming Host City again – bringing together international event owners, federations, and wider stakeholders to share insights and experience, and to debate and discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the industry. It’s a privilege to be part of this important conversation.”

Host City Awards

Host City is launching the Host City Awards, to celebrate excellence in hosting, delivering and promoting major sports, business and cultural events worldwide. The winners will be revealed at Host City 2024. To find out more and enter, visit https://www.hostcity.com/host-city-awards.

[Source: www.olympics.com] Updates to the Olympic and Paralympic Games LA28 venue masterplan have been revealed, with the Organising Committee prioritising the use of world-class arenas and stadiums to deliver an unparalleled experience for athletes and fans alike. Additional benefits relating to sustainability, legacy and economics are anticipated, with the city preparing to host the Games in only four years’ time.

Overview of LA28’s venue masterplan, including the latest updates:

• Gymnastics will be held at the recently renovated Downtown LA Arena that is home to the National Basketball Association (NBA)’s Lakers, National Hockey League’s Kings, and Women’s NBA’s Sparks.

• Basketball will be held at the nation’s newest and state-of-the-art Indoor Arena in Inglewood, that will be home to the NBA’s Clippers.

• The nation’s newest and most advanced large pro sports stadium, located in Inglewood, which is home to the National Football League’s Rams and Chargers, will become the largest swimming venue in Olympic history, with a planned 38,000 seats.

• Athletics and Para Athletics will remain at the iconic and recently refurbished LA Memorial Coliseum, making this the only stadium in history to host track and field competitions at three Olympic Games.

* To accommodate these moves, both World Athletics and World Aquatics, the governing bodies of athletics and aquatics Olympic events respectively, have approved and support LA28’s plan to adjust the traditional Olympic schedule. Specifically, the athletics competition will move to the first week of the Olympic Games LA28, while the swimming competition will be held during the second week.

• LA28’s plans for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies are unchanged, with parts hosted at both the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and the Inglewood Stadium.

• The San Fernando Valley will be a hub for youthful, high energy Olympic competitions in BMX Freestyle and BMX Racing, along with Skateboarding Park and Street, all in the Sepulveda Basin area.

• Also in the Sepulveda Basin area will be Archery, for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

• Diving will return to the same pool that hosted the aquatics events at the 1932 Olympic Games, the 1932 Pool in Exposition Park, which will remain a legacy venue for Angelenos as part of the city’s Department of Recreation and Parks.

• The City of Long Beach will host Artistic Swimming and Para Swimming competitions, in addition to several other sports that will be announced at a later date.

• Equestrian and Para Equestrian competitions, previously assigned to the Sepulveda Dam Recreation Area, will be held at an existing facility in Temecula - the only such facility in Southern California large enough to accommodate all the required disciplines in one location.

• Shooting and Shooting Para Sport competitions, which were also previously assigned to the Sepulveda Dam Recreation Area, will be assigned to one of two possible sport shooting clubs, to be determined, in the Southern California region.

Oklahoma

While Southern California has more professional and collegiate sports venues than any area in the United States, there is no canoe slalom venue that exists locally (or anywhere in the Western US), and the largest softball venue in Southern California seats fewer than 2,000 people, which does not meet the expected spectator demand for softball at the Olympic Games.

Instead of building temporary venues for these sports, and in alignment with the IOC’s Olympic Agenda 2020 recommendation that encourages the use of existing stadiums outside the region of the Host City, LA28 will assign canoe slalom and softball competitions to existing, world-class venues in Oklahoma City.

Both the existing canoe slalom and softball stadiums in Oklahoma City are built to international competition standards, and the local community has consistently supported top tournaments for both sports, ensuring a high-quality experience for both athletes and fans, while allowing LA28 to achieve cost savings and revenue gains to support its balanced budget.

Benefits

Speaking about these changes, LA28 Chairperson Casey Wasserman, said: “The Olympic and Paralympic Games represent the pinnacle of athletic competition and achievement, and we’re proud to host the Los Angeles 2028 Games in some of the greatest stadiums and arenas ever built.

"LA28’s updated venue plan will provide the ideal Hollywood stage for the world’s top athletes, and choosing from spectacular, existing venues, wherever they are, rather than building new permanent or temporary stadiums, achieves more than USD 150 million in savings and new revenue to help maintain a balanced budget. We look forward to partnering with these venues, and their experienced operators and workforce, to deliver an unparalleled experience for athletes and fans in 2028."

By making use of the recommendations of Olympic Agenda 2020, one of the primary goals of the updated venue plan is to leverage existing infrastructure, which significantly reduces the need for temporary constructions and enhances long-term legacy opportunities for local communities. Many of these venues will continue to serve the community long after the Games, providing opportunities for future sports events and activities.

All proposed venue changes have been assessed in consultation with the respective International Federations and have already been approved by the IOC Executive Board, conditional on LA City Council approval. LA28 submitted these updated venue proposals to the City of Los Angeles on 21 June, which must approve changes that move competitions outside the city’s boundaries compared with the venue plan submitted during the bid.

Additional changes to the Olympic and Paralympic Games LA28 venue masterplan that do not move events outside the city’s boundaries, venues for new sports and disciplines added to the Olympic and Paralympic sports programme since 2017, and the updated Paralympic venue plan will all be announced at a later date.

The Olympic Games LA28 are due to take place between 14 and 30 July 2028, followed by the Paralympic Games, which will be held from 15 until 27 August

The annual Host City Conference & Exhibition, the largest international meeting of cities and sports, business and cultural events, will take place at the Scottish Event Campus, Glasgow on 3-4 December, and include presentation of the inaugural Host City Awards, celebrating the best event hosting achievements, at an evening reception on 3 December.

The move to a larger capacity venue and launch of the Host City Awards reflects the event’s growth, following a decade of increasingly successful events.

Host City 2024 will bring together hundreds of major event owners, organisers and hosts from all over the world for two days of insightful discussion and debate across plenary sessions, presentations and keynote addresses. The 11th Host City will also feature a hosted buyer programme for the growing community of international event owners and organising committees.

Participants in Host City include International Federation leaders and IOC Members alongside the owners and organisers of major congresses and entertainment events.

Host City 2024 takes place with the support of Global Presenting Partners and Hosts: Glasgow Life, EventScotland and the Scottish Event Campus.

Susan Deighan, Chief Executive of Glasgow Life said: “Glasgow has a reputation for world-class cultural, sports and business occasions so we’ll look forward to welcoming delegates to the city once again for the Host City Conference and Exhibition in December. 

“The breadth of expertise and wealth of knowledge that is shared at Host City is invaluable for continuing to push the boundaries of successful event organisation.

“We look forward to adding our own distinctive host voice to the proceedings, sharing our experience of delivering engaging and diverse events like the World Athletics Indoor Championships held here in March, and hearing how others create a genuine legacy for local communities.”

Paul Bush OBE, Director of Events, VisitScotland, said: “EventScotland is delighted to continue its partnership with Host City having been a long-standing supporter since its inception. Fostering the spirit of collaboration and innovation, the conference continues to provide a dynamic environment for networking, knowledge sharing, and also celebration with the introduction of this year’s inaugural Host City Awards.

“The opportunity to attract and bring together key global partners and stakeholders to discuss a range of immediate and emerging trends within our sector is incredibly valuable. We are delighted to see the event’s ambition to grow in scope and scale, and look forward to welcoming both new and returning speakers and delegates from across the sport, culture and business events landscape to Glasgow, and indeed Scotland later this year.”   

Kathleen Warden, Director of Conference Sales, Scottish Event Campus said: “We are delighted to support Host City.  This event plays an important role in positioning Glasgow and Scotland as the natural location for major events and conferences, are we are delighted to be providing a platform for growth for the event.”

Host City 2024 is also supported by Glasgow Convention Bureau.

The full agenda for Host City 2024 and details for the inaugural Host City Awards will be announced soon.  

For more information visit www.hostcity.com or email ben.avison@hostcity.com

Commercial Opportunities: adam.soroka@cavendishgroup.co.uk

On the day of signing an MoU with the hosts of the Istanbul 2027 European Games, Spyros Capralos, President of the European Olympic Committees (EOC) highlighted AI as a “useful tool” for delivery of the mega event in Europe’s largest city.

He also highlighted the economic success of the previous edition of the Games, with talks with prospective hosts for 2031 set to begin soon.

“We know that artificial intelligence is an area which brings exciting opportunities and, in line with the Olympic artificial intelligence agenda, we'll explore how it can help us to optimise plans for the 2027 European Games,” said Capralos.

“AI is something that's new in our world and I think that there are many developments in sport, but also developments in other in other areas,” he told Host City during a press conference.

“Every Games has its challenges, and AI could be an extremely useful tool to help ensure efficient logistical planning in areas such as accommodation, transportation.”

The innovations that AI can bring to sport will be high on the agenda of the EOC General Assembly in Bucharest in June, he said.

“I think that going forward in the next three years, there are going to be lots of developments and we'll be on top of that.”

Bids for 2031 European Olympic Games

Following the General Assembly, the EOC will enter into discussions with prospective hosts for the 2031 European Olympic Games.

“We've had some cities that have expressed an interest” said Caparalos, referring to parties who were “not ready” to bid for 2027 but are now looking at 2031 instead.

“I think it's what is a very positive on this front is that, before we're looking for a host, we have concluded and agreed with our Turkish friends more than three years before the Games.

“So I think this is very good and it shows the success of the Games”

He cited a Deloitte report evaluating the previous Games in Kraków-Małopolska in 2023, which demonstrated that the benefits far outweighed the costs that associated with the Games.

“In today's world every government and every municipality is afraid of what the taxpayers will say, and from the report of Deloitte, we realised that the positive financial aspect of the Games was such that by sharing this with other cities, that will increase the interest.”

Caparalos also confirmed that Istanbul was building no new permanent venues for 2027 Games, “in line with IOC Agenda 20+5”, and focusing on upgrading existing venues.

“An event of this size relies on people having the expertise to ensure a successful event. Istanbul has proven itself in this respect throughout its hosting of several events; it has the people with the skills, the experience and the passion to host fantastic events.

“The EOC looks forward to working together to deliver a memorable Games, and a Games with innovation at the forefront.”

Capralos’ comments were made in a press conference in Rome marking the occasion of the European Olympic Committees, the Turkish Olympic Committee and the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality signing a Memorandum of Understanding for the 2027 European Games.

The Games are likely to take place in the last 10 days of June in 2027, he said, with qualifying opportunities to the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028 available in a number of sports.

In this age of constant access to entertainment, sports events are under pressure to become ever more entertaining and offer more activities within the schedule. But is this phenomenon of festivalisation – part of the DNA of mega events  – a good thing for smaller events?

“It’s definitely a good thing for promoting and reaching out to new target groups and bringing communities together and entertaining them,” says Georg Spazier, who brought several events to the Region of Tirol following heading up marketing and communications at the 2012 Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee Company.  He is now running his own agency, ITS GR8, with which he organises Europe’s biggest mountain bike festival.

“But for organising committees it’s additional work, additional budget, additional staff and coordination and so on. You probably need an extra team running it. If it's the one organising committee, doing everything can be overwhelming in many ways.

“There is a threat that sport moves out of the spotlight. We have to look at it more from a holistic entertainment perspective.”

The 2023 Olympic and Paralympic Games will incorporate a number of different cities beyond Brisbane, the nominal host. “I think it's great thing because I think it just gives more cities more opportunity,” says Alana Vought, Program Manager, City of Gold Coast’s Olympic and Paralympic Games Brisbane 2032.”

Involving wider regions can help to involve more diverse communities and in events, especially those communities that lack sports infrastructure, Vought says. “The Pacific islands have no training infrastructure at all. So to be able to bring some training camps into the country, to Australia, into the Gold Coast and have them train – it's a great opportunity for them and it's also a fantastic opportunity for our athletes to share.”

Birmingham, in the UK’s West Midlands, hosted the Commonwealth Games in 2022. “Festivalisation was good for Birmingham because it suited what we wanted to do with the Games, and that was could we involve more communities and different types of audiences,” says Nicola Turner MBE, CEO, United By 2022, who was Director of Legacy for the Games.

Birmingham 2022 wrapped a cultural and festival event around the Games for six months. “We eventually sold more tickets for the cultural and arts festival than we did for the Commonwealth Games itself, and actually then the community decided to put on Festival 23 the next year because they liked it so much.”

Triathlon is a sport which has seen huge rise in in popularity, and the events are getting bigger and bigger. This brings challenges as well as commercial opportunities, according to Kris Gemmell, Head of Marketing and Commercial, World Triathlon.

“There was an opportunity to give sponsors more bang for their buck, and they had more time to activate, but it was taxing for them to be in one place for a greater length of time,” he said.

“The question is, how big is too big?”

At this precarious moment geopolitically around the world, and particularly in the Middle East, sport might just help.

“Sports is a beautiful tool for common understanding,” says Nasser Majali, Secretary General of the Islamic Solidarity Sports Association.

“We view sports as an integration tool – as a peacebuilding tool, and one to build integration between countries and between people. It makes changes in culture, in gender equity and opens up a lot of doors for dialogue and travel.

“Sports is a language. In our membership there are three official languages, Arabic, English and French, and a lot of unofficial languages. But the one thing that brings them together, and they all can talk, is one single language of sports. Everybody knows who wins and loses, and what that person in front of me went through to get there. So it is a unifying language.”

Asked if sports is contributing to the westernisation of the Islamic world, Majali pointed to the power of sports for development in all cultures.

“Sports is a very important tool for development, whether it's in education and health, in economics. Ask any child today in the world about sports and 90% of the time they'll talk about sports as something very important in their life. Then when people grow up you will find that a lot of their memories and character development was built around that.”

Transformation phase

The Islamic Solidarity Sports Association (ISSA) was established about 40 years ago, with a membership based on the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, the umbrella organisation for Muslim countries – not just predominantly Muslim countries but also countries with sizeable Muslim populations like Guyana Uganda, Cameroon.

“The vision and mission of the organisation has been transformed,” says Majali. “It's going through a transformation phase for us to become to scale more and to go into development of sustainable sports ecosystems within the 57 countries.”

ISSA has five focus areas, starting with sports development. “So that's developmental programmes and also prioritising sports as a sector in the 57 countries. That goes also to the economic part of sports and the startups and companies’ growth. So it's a discussion that we have with our National Olympic Committees and then with the governments and leading bodies within the countries to try to push for the sports sector, which sadly, it's not prioritised in all countries.”

Another major focus area is multi-sports games and events. ISSA has its own Games – the Islamic Solidarity Games – and aims to help members to host other events between Games.

Research and academia is another area. “There are a lot of statistics missing from the 57 countries regarding the sports sector,” says Majali. “We believe it's our role to become the kind of the Wikipedia of the world of Islam and sports. The whole philosophy behind sports and Islam requires a lot of research.”

The fourth focus area is the integration of Islamic culture and tradition within the global sports movement. “So that’s kind of explaining a lot of things. What happens in Ramadan with athletes – why we shouldn't have mega sports events happening right in the middle of Ramadan and how would that affect performance? Also, topics related to the right of female athletes to be wearing the hijab in all sports sporting events. Somebody needs to be a voice, so we are taking on that responsibility.”

The last focus area is emergency assistance. Many of ISSA’s member countries are experiencing crises, from the conflicts in Sudan, Palestine to the recent earthquake in Turkey and floods in Libya and many others. “What is very important for us is to be able to mobilise, assist with programming, and lobbying for the sports sector in those countries so that it does not lose its priority when the rebuild starts.”

Working with partners

One of the main ways that ISSA is looking to implement its aims is by working with partners. “We don't want to reinvent the game. So when we come to talk about gender equity, we'd like to integrate with partners who have worked on that for a long time.

“If we wanted to talk about IFs, we'd like to find a partner or somebody like SportAccord to work with. If the International Olympic Committee is working on Olympic solidarity, we'd like to integrate into that, and with potential partners such as the UN or Save the Children for example.

“Our implementation methodology is to find the partner and scale with them rather than do something from scratch. I hope that that in the next couple of years is reflected in the programmes that we implement.”

Host City: It’s great to be here in Birmingham for SportAccord. How important was hosting the Commonwealth Games for the city and the West Midlands region?

Joel Lavery: We hit the high note with the Commonwealth Games in 2022. The city came alive with sport, and we recognised the power and the impact of an event like the Commonwealth Games. That led us to think about what comes after the Commonwealth Games. We wanted to see if we could attract more events that have purpose, and to know what impact they're going to have.

Host City: How is hosting SportAccord helping to attract more events?

Joel Lavery: SportAccord is one of the events that sits as part of that portfolio that is being paid for by the underspend of £70 million from the Commonwealth Games and the £6 million invested into the major events fund. What better audience could we have than 1,500 world leaders of sport? And so this week it's about meeting people and starting off some of those conversations that we hope will lead to us landing a pipeline of opportunities.

Host City: What activities have you got in the pipeline?

Joel Lavery: We've talked about the Golden Decade of Sport from the Commonwealth Games. In 2026 we'll have the European Athletics Championships and alongside that, we'll have the IWG Women in Sport Global Conference that's happening in this very same venue in two years.  We've also got events like the Kabaddi World Cup, the Urban Sports World Championships, Esports and Judo happening.

Tom Wagner made the announcement here that they've purchased a large piece of land in the east of Birmingham where there's going to be a new development, a new Birmingham City stadium and sports quarter.  I think that's an exciting announcement, when we're talking about the power of sport to transform cities and showcasing the West Midlands’ place at the heart of sport in the UK.

For more information on the West Midlands' sporting offer, please go to: www.meetbirmingham.com/sportingevents #HeartofSport

[Source: SportAccord] The global sports movement’s most influential decision-makers have arrived in Birmingham, West Midlands, for the return of sport’s No.1 global gathering

The SportAccord World Sport & Business Summit 2024 opened in Birmingham, with more than 1,500 delegates from over 100 countries meeting in the West Midlands for the highly anticipated return of sport’s most important industry summit.

Key figures from across the international sports movement have embarked on five days of networking from 7-11 April, with high-level meetings, a bustling exhibition, and a packed conference programme under the umbrella theme of ‘The Power of Sport’.

World-class speakers will include sports leaders such as Mark Rein, Vice President and Co-Founder, Epic Games; UK Sport Chair Dame Katherine Grainger; Rob Alberino, Vice-President of Content and Production, Kansas City Chiefs; and many more.

SportAccord Managing Director Martin Gibbs praised the team effort of Birmingham City Council and the West Midlands Growth Company in embracing this powerful event and bringing it to the heart of the UK.

“We are delighted with the enthusiastic response of the global sports movement in coming back to SportAccord and the atmosphere in the city is fantastic,” Gibbs said.

“Our hosts are not only building on the legacy of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, but they are also putting Birmingham and the West Midlands firmly at the centre of the sporting world over the coming days, with an event that will bring together the sport economy’s most influential decision-makers. There is no other event where you find in one place so many International Federations, the International Olympic Committee, rights holders, cities and regions as well as sports business leaders.”

Aside from the main Plenary Conference, there will also be dedicated HealthAccord, LawAccord, CityAccord and MediaAccord conference streams, as well as various workshops and a Speakers’ Corner, with experts from across the industry offering unmissable insights.

With numerous events planned in and around the International Convention Centre over the coming days, attendees can take advantage of a compact set-up to maximise networking opportunities, reconnecting with old friends and establishing new connections.

“We have various resources available so that delegates can make the most of their time in Birmingham, including an official event app, a digital event guide and our on-site newspaper, The Daily, which will cover all of the most important developments,” Gibbs added. “We are also really grateful for the support of the dedicated team of volunteers who have been assisting attendees, to ensure their stay in Birmingham is as productive and enjoyable as possible. Their enthusiasm and friendly welcome is really making a difference.”

Host City Director Ben Avison is moderating the CityAccord roundtable at 10:30 on Tuesday 9th April: More than just sport - Creating a more engaging, inclusive event which appeals to fans, residents and athletes alike. Just how far can 'Festivalisation' go?

The Belgian, Ingmar De Vos, Council member of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF), member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and President of the International Equestrian Federation (FEI), will stand for election as the next ASOIF President at the 48th General Assembly on 9 April in Birmingham, United Kingdom. The third term of incumbent President Francesco Ricci Bitti will come to an end on 31 December 2024.

The President is elected by secret ballot for a term of four years in the year of the Summer Olympic Games and takes up the position on 1 January of the following year.

The nomination of Mr De Vos was the sole candidature received by the official deadline of 25 March. In line with the ASOIF Statutes, Full Members may nominate one of their executive body members for the position of ASOIF President.

Ingmar De Vos has served as FEI President since 2014 and as ASOIF Council member since 2019. An IOC Member since 2017, he is part of the IOC Coordination Commission for LA28, the Legal Affairs Commission, and the Gender Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Commission. He is also a SportAccord Executive Committee member, ASOIF representative on the WADA Executive Committee, member of the Board of Directors of the Belgium Olympic Committee, and a UN International Gender Champion.

The 48th General Assembly will be organised during the SportAccord World Sport & Business Summit, which takes place from 7 to 11 April in Birmingham, United Kingdom. It will be fully livestreamed on YouTube. Click here to learn more about the agenda.