World Beach, Urban Games Highlighted as SportAccord Winds Down

The creation and implementation of the inaugural World Beach and World Urban Games was a hot topic at the SportAccord 2014 General Assembly as the annual global sports conference came to a close on Friday in Belek.

SportAccord president Marius Vizer and director general Vlad Marinescu outlined plans for the two multi-sport games, which will join the organization’s pre-existing Combat and Mind Games brands.

The premier edition of the World Beach Games could take place as early as 2015 with 2017 as a secondary option. The World Urban Games, which unlike the Beach Games, does not involve any Olympic disciplines, is scheduled for 2016.

Vizer advised that three or four host candidates are being considered for the Beach Games, although he would not reveal specifics.

Twenty-four international sports federations are on board for the innovative summer multi-sport event, which will likely entail 11 beach sports, 10 water sports, and two hybrid sports.

In addition to the Olympic discipline of beach volleyball, other beach events will include flying disc, American football, soccer, rugby, motorcycle, mini-golf, boules, cheerleading, and tennis.

Water sports will include the Olympic discipline of sailing, along with aquatics, sport fishing, surfing, water skiing and wakeboarding, powerboat, and dragon boat, among others. Triathlon and life saving will also be contested.

The World Urban Games, which will be comprised of 17 international federations, will take to the streets in a city yet to be determined. Some of the predominantly youth oriented sports include BMX, roller sports, skateboarding, hip hop and breakdancing, three-on-three basketball, climbing and go-karting.

Nearly 1,800 athletes could compete at four themed city parks in the heart of a major city.

Earlier on the General Assembly agenda, IOC president Thomas Bach addressed the delegates and wide-ranging Olympic and non-Olympic sport organizations asking for closer cooperation between all organizations comprising SportAccord.

Vizer continued to emphasize his vision for a "world sport forum" involving substantial change for the conference, which he suggested could rise to between seven and ten thousand delegates next year. The global conference could expand to include national Olympic committees, national federations from various sports, mainstream news and sports media, large sport suppliers, and big-time corporate partners.

"With this young team, we are faster than you can believe," Vizer said, while also assuring that change would occur with "quality, speed, and efficiency."

The 56-year-old SportAccord leader from Austria, who also has presided over the International Judo Federation since 2007, also spoke of incorporating youth events to the conference stressing culture, arts, and education.

Vizer advised that visits to the three 2015 candidate cities – Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirantes; Durban, South Africa and Sochi – will take place in the near future, while suggesting that Abu Dhabi is the front-runner.

Whether Durban is a true candidate remains to be seen. Sam Ramsamy, the IOC member from South Africa and a Durban resident, says he has spoken with city government officials and is not aware of any move by the city to host SportAccord.

SportAccord 2014, which was staged at the Susesi Luxury Resort in Belek, Turkey on the Mediterranean coast involved 1,636 delegates, 78 nationalities, 40 official meetings, and saw over 700 news stories generated by media in 34 countries.

More than 80 of the 108 members voted at the General Assembly as the International Federation of Sports Medicine was accepted as an associate member to SportAccord.

The busy week also proved to be highly eventful and somewhat surprising week for International Ski Federation president Gian-Franco Kasper. The 70-year-old Swiss leader was elected by his fellow Association of International Olympic Winter Sports Federation as its new president, replacing incumbent René Fasel.

Kasper was then named as a vice-president to SportAccord on Thursday and unexpectedly found himself sitting directly adjacent to Vizer at the General Assembly.

The overriding sentiment of the six-day convention, which witnessed near perfect weather on the shores of the Mediterranean coast, was one of great success.

"It has been a true pleasure and honor to be able to see the sport family unite here this past week in Belek to enjoy some time together outside of the sports sphere, to enjoy composition in regards to serious sports issue as well to see everyone unite," said director general Marinescu.

Considering the future vision and ambitious calls for dramatic change from SportAccord president Vizer, it is likely that the so-called "United Nations of sport" will never be similar again.

Written in Belek by Brian Pinelli

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