LAUSANNE, Switzerland – A Virtual Launch Celebration provided an exciting glimpse of what to expect at the SportAccord World Sport & Business Summit 2021 in Ekaterinburg at the end of today’s International Federation (IF) Forum 2021.
With less than six months to go until SportAccord 2021 takes place from 7-12 November, those who had already signed up as delegates, exhibitors or partners for sport’s most important global gathering were able to join International Sport Federations worldwide by tuning in to the event, which wrapped up an engaging IF Forum 2021 that was held virtually via the City of Lausanne in the Canton of Vaud.
Leaders from across the world contributed to the Virtual Launch Celebration, with special messages from Dr. Raffaele Chiulli, President, SportAccord and GAISF; Dmitry Chernyshenko, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation and Chairman of the SportAccord 2021 Organising Committee; Evgeny Kuivashev, Governor, Sverdlovsk Region; Russian Federation Minister of Sport Oleg Matytsin; and the SportAccord 2021 Gold Partners, FITEQ and FISU.
More information was also provided about the highly anticipated SportAccord 2021 conference programme, which will feature the newly launched InvestAccord, ArtAccord and MinisterAccord, plus the established CityAccord, HealthAccord, LawAccord, MediaAccord and Summit streams.
“I can honestly say that the local organising committee and everyone working towards the delivery of the event are doing everything they can to ensure an excellent experience,” Dr. Raffaele Chiulli said. “SportAccord 2021 will be an inspirational gathering. The IEC Ekaterinburg-Expo is a perfect host venue for networking and a fantastic space for the exhibition, the meetings and the conferences. At SportAccord, we are always trying to enhance the experience for delegates, exhibitors and partners, and it is fantastic that our friends in Russia share those goals for this important gathering for the global sports movement.”
Dmitry Chernyshenko looked forward to an event where “key industry issues for sport and society” would be explored in person and “offline” again, and added: “Our country will welcome more than 2,000 delegates to the Summit from all over the world. Unprecedented measures will be taken to ensure the health and safety of all of our guests… As of today we have the opportunity to offer the Russian vaccine to all delegates. We will also establish and simplify the visa process for the delegates to ensure everyone in the SportAccord family can reach Ekaterinburg smoothly.”
The Virtual Launch Celebration followed an IF Forum that provided delegates with perspectives from the likes of International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and H.E. Ban Ki-moon, the 8th United Nations Secretary-General.
Other expert speakers, including representatives of the IOC, umbrella sports associations and individual IFs, as well as sports industry executives, covered various topics, such as ‘Moving Forward, Pivoting and the Lessons We Are Learning’, ‘A Return to Competition and Lessons from the Bubble’, ‘Athlete Mental Health’, ‘Commercial Approaches for IFs in the New Normal’ and ‘The Virtual Experience and its Home within IFs’.
IF Forum 2021 Host City partners are: City of Lausanne and Canton de Vaud and the Official Partners are: City of London, Marsh, OnePlan, Sociedad Peruana de Derecho Deportivo and Sport Event Denmark.
Registration is open for SportAccord 2021 in Ekaterinburg, the 19th edition of SportAccord’s flagship annual event.
