BANGKOK – The tagline for SportAccord, the premiere world sport and business summit, is “where sports meet.” For FISU executive at the six-day event in the Kingdom of Thailand’s capital city the 2018 summit edition has lived up to the billing.
SportAccord 2018 began with a opening ceremony that matched an impressive cultural performance with speeches and recognition of sports leaders in attendance
More than 100 other International Sports Federations have joined FISU here with the focus to drive positive change through sport internationally, and dedicated to connecting and engaging: event rights holders, host cities, media, industry and other organisations involved in the development of sport. Showing its forward-leaning vision for sport inclusion, FISU was a founding member of SportAccord, a not-for-profit organisation that is now onto its 16th annual convention.
FISU President Oleg Matytsin presents during the General Assembly of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations (ARISF). FISU joined ARISF last year.
On 16 April, for the first time FISU took part in the General Assembly of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations (ARISF), after the international University Sport governing body joined the AFISF membership last year. Speaking to the delegates, FISU President Oleg Matytsin highlighted his organisation’s ambition for the deeper integration of university sports into the Olympic Movement.
FISU President Matytsin (left) with the Chair of the Olympic Education Commission, Barry Maister
The next day was the opening of the SportAccord the exhibition started its work. FISU stand, organised in cooperation with 2019WU Krasnoyarsk, was the place for a number of meetings. Those meeting with FISU included: Barry Maister, Chair of the Olympic Education Commission; Morinari Watanabe, FIG President; Chungwon Choue, World Taekwondo Federation President; Joon-ho Kang, Director of Dream Together Master programme at Seoul National University, among others.
FISU President Matytsin with Morinari Watanabe, the FIG President.
Fitting with FISU’s emphasis on education, the SportAccord convention also included a conference, with this year’s theme centred on “Uniting a Global Audience: Marking and Sponsorship for the Future,” which has a world-class line-up of speakers and expert panels set up.
FISU President Oleg Matytsin (right) and FISU Secretary General-CEO Eric Saintrond meet with Joon-ho Kang from Seoul National University with whom FISU has a Gwangju 2015 legacy project, the Dream Together Master Scholarship
With so much of the world of sport in one venue a broadened awareness of sport innovation was bound to happen. One area this year was when the FISU President took the chance to try a new sport: Teqball. Championing the game with high praise was Christian Karembeu, currently a Teqball Ambassador and formerly the winner of the Champions League, FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Championship.
FISU President Matysin playing Teqball for the first time during the SportAccord exhibition
Later that day the official opening ceremony took place in the Royal Navy Hall in Bangkok with a number of honorary guests including IOC President Thomas Bach and Prime Minister of Thailand Prayut Chan-o-cha.
IOC President Thomas Bach is also a central person in the internation sports movement who is in Bangkok for the convention
During this address, the IOC President echoed a sentiment espoused by FISU that sport is a way to build bridges of understanding and cooperation amongst cultures and society. “The principle decision is how to make progress, through isolation or engagement,” Mr. Bach said. “The answer of sport must always be engagement. Only then can you get your argument across, or in the case of sport, our values across. This is how bridges are built. Keep going, building these bridges even if sometimes if it is not easy.”
FISU President Oleg Matytsin also met with Chungwon Choue, World Taekwondo Federation President at SportAccord