| First event | 1980 İzmir |
|---|---|
| Occur every | Four years |
| Purpose | Multi-sport event for Muslim |
| Organization | IFS |
TheIslamic Games (Arabic:الألعاب الإسلامية,Turkish:Islam Ülkeleri Spor Oyunlari) was amulti-sport event for athletes fromMuslim countries that was held from 28 September to 5 October 1980 inİzmir, Turkey.[1] Although 42 nations were invited to compete at the competition, ultimately only ten nations took part, with 691 athletes present.[2] Among the nations competing at the tournament, onlyAlgeria andLibya had sent delegations to the1980 Summer Olympics inMoscow (the rest observed theboycott).[3]
The idea for the games was initiated in 1979, following an agreement betweenforeign ministers at a regional meeting inIslamabad. Izmir was chosen as the host and was well equipped for the task given pre-existing facilities stemming from its hosting of the1971 Mediterranean Games, withİzmir Atatürk Stadium as the main venue.Anwar Chowdhry, a Pakistani sports official, praised the coming together of Muslim-majority nations, stating that "all the countries competing have relatively the same level of performance [which] provides our athletes with encouragement to put on an even better performance".[2]
Libya won the five-teamassociation football tournament, going undefeated.[4]
The games was proposed to be held on a quadrennial basis, being scheduled one year before theSummer Olympics to allow Muslim nations to prepare for the larger competition. Saudi Arabia was chosen to host the second Islamic Games in 1983, but ultimately the event was not held.[2]
AWomen's Islamic Games was started in 1993 and then theIslamic Solidarity Games was inaugurated in 2005 in Saudi Arabia, continuing the legacy of an international games between Muslim-majority countries.
| Year | Games | Host | Countries | Athletes | Sports | Medals | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st place | 2nd place | 3rd place | ||||||
| 1980 | I | İzmir | 10 | 691[5] | 7 | Turkey (117) |  Morocco (14) |  Algeria (41) |
| 1983 | – |  (city not chosen) | Cancelled | |||||
Algeria
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Libya (95)
Malaysia (78) Morocco
Northern Cyprus (as Turkish Federated State of Cyprus)
Pakistan (42) Saudi Arabia (141) Turkey
Palestine (asPalestine Liberation Organization)* Host nation (Turkey)
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Turkey* | 63 | 38 | 16 | 117 |
| 2 | Morocco | 7 | 4 | 3 | 14 |
| 3 | Algeria | 4 | 14 | 23 | 41 |
| 4 | Pakistan | 3 | 18 | 5 | 26 |
| 5 | Northern Cyprus | 3 | 3 | 3 | 9 |
| 6 | Saudi Arabia | 3 | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| 7 | Bahrain | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 8 | Libya | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| 9 | Malaysia | 0 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| 10 | Bangladesh | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| Totals (10 entries) | 87 | 85 | 66 | 238 | |
