(ATR) The inaugural World Beach Games are coming to the shores of Sochi’s Black Sea in 2019 and the SportAccord Convention World Sport and Business Summit will continue to be held in Russia for at least the next three years.
Both agreements were confirmed by SportAccord president Marius Vizer in Sochi on Monday.
Vizer said that the convention will return to the 2014 Winter Olympic city in 2016 and then shift north to Moscow and St. Petersburg in 2017 and 2018.
Commenting on the launch of the Beach Games, Vizer said that negotiating a deal hadn’t been smooth sailing. He admitted there has been a rift between SportAccord and ANOC, who jointly agreed to cooperate on the project in 2013.
"We started preparation of the project with our team implementing the strategy and along the way, the ANOC president, who is probably still my friend and sport colleague, changed his mind," Vizer said referring to Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad.
"We thought that with the IFs, we have the application to specify the content and strategy of the project. Anyhow, SportAccord is ready to contribute to the project together with ANOC and with the NOCs," Vizer added.
ANOC president Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah said in a statement that to deliver a successful Beach Games, first launched in Asian, to all five continents "we must all work together under the umbrella of the IOC".
"Over the last year we have worked in consultation with the IOC, international federations and SportAccord to develop the best possible concept for the World Beach Games," he added. "We want to ensure that the World Beach Games adds real value to the international sports calendar and leaves a positive legacy for the Olympic Movement and the wider sports world. We also want to respect the commitment made to the IOC under the Olympic Agenda 2020 to protect the uniqueness of the Olympic Games.
"We will be announcing some exciting plans in June."
The dispute between the two bodies is related to the ownership of the new event, as SportAccord objects to a decision to allow a third party to own it.
"Of course we have our contribution to the project, they need to bring their contribution to the project to share the benefits, visibility, exposure and the values of the event," Vizer said.
Vizer was asked by Around the Rings editor Ed Hula about SportAccord’s multi-year agreement to remain in Russia, specifically how this decision will broaden the scope, impact and appeal of the international event.
"In the past, the strategy was to jump from one year to the other and a little more business-oriented," Vizer replied.
"My intention was to secure a longer term for the convention. According to the request to the condition and content of the convention, we made nearly the tour of the world: Miami, Barcelona, Nice, Paris, Johannesburg, Durban, Rio and some other destinations.
"But no country was ready to sign a five years partnership according to our strategy."
The International Judo Federation president added: "We are open during this period, if different countries are interested and can deliver the condition, we are ready to jump for one or two years to [from] Russia, to goabroad and then come back."
Russian president Vladimir Putin addressed the SportAccord general assembly emphasizing that sport must be protected from politics.
He praised the efforts of his country' sport sector, commending the work that is going into preparations for future large-scale events that Russia is hosting such as the 2017 World Aquatics Championships and 2018 World Cup.
Putin said that sport is a link between nations, bringing positive and light-hearted emotions to the forefront, despite the competitive nature of sport.
The Russian leader proceeded to have lunch with IOC president Thomas Bach and presidents of some of the international federations gathered in Sochi.
The SportAccord Convention World Sport & Business Summit, bringing together representatives from more than 100 IFs worldwide, continues through Friday at the Black Sea resort.
Written by Brian Pinelli in Sochi
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