SOCHI – With the promise of bringing the sports world closer, the 2015 edition of the SportAccord Convention World Sport and Business Summit opened in Sochi, Russia on 19 April. The 5-day long event is the annual meeting place for the leaders from the world of sports, sports industry and sports associations. With almost 3,100 registered participants, the latest edition of the SportAccord Convention has broadened its scope to include in its fray participants from sports business and sports media. There are over 95 countries and 52 delegations at this year’s Convention, representing an increase of over 50 percent in exhibitors at the annual event.
President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin
FISU is represented at the Convention by its President Claude-Louis Gallien, 1st Vice-President Oleg Matytsin and Secretary-General/CEO Eric Saintrond. FISU stands out with a promotional booth it shares with the Organising Committees of the 2017 Universiades, i.e. Almaty, Kazakhstan (Winter) and Taipei City, Chinese Taipei (Summer). The OC of the Krasnoyarsk 2019 Winter Universiade is present as well in a separate booth. The FISU delegates are promoting the University Sport Movement at this global platform.
FISU & ISFC
During the Convention the FISU delegates met with the representatives of International Sport Federations and Collaboration Conventions were signed with a number of FISU partners ISFs, i.e. ITTF (table tennis), WBSC (baseball/softball), ICF (canoeing), FIAS (sambo), IAAF (athletics) and IFSC (sport climbing). The latter being a first as in 2016 FISU will stage the inaugural edition of the World University Sport Climbing Championship in Shanghai. At the Krasnoyarsk booth, the FISU delegates had a meeting with Minister of Sport of Russia Vitaly Mutko, with whom they discussed the cooperation between FISU and Russia and future projects.
IOC President Thomas Bach
The local organisers of the 2015 SportAccord Convention World Sport and Business Summit presented a grand spectacle for the international audiences during the opening ceremony of the event. Showcasing Russian culture and sports, the colourful ceremony was organised in the Iceberg Skating Palace inside the Olympic Park in Sochi.
Meeting with Minister of Sport of Russia Vitaly Mutko
Vitaly Mutko, the Russian minister of sport; Nikolai Doluda, the deputy governor of the Krasnodar Krai region and Marius Vizer, President of SportAccord addressed the 5,000 spectators present for the opening. All three expressed the importance of sport for the well-being of humanity and culture.
During the SportAccord Convention President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin and IOC President Thomas Bach also addressed the participants.
C. Pierre, Press Officer