 | |
 Headquarters in Lausanne | |
| Abbreviation | IWGA |
|---|---|
| Formation | 21 May 1980; 45 years ago (1980-05-21) |
| Founded at | Seoul, South Korea |
| Type | Sports association |
| Headquarters | Lausanne, Switzerland |
| Membership | 39 |
Official language | English |
President | José Perurena López |
| Website | www |
TheInternational World Games Association, abbreviated asIWGA, is an international association, recognised by theInternational Olympic Committee (IOC), that organises every four years, beginning in 1981, themulti-sport event calledThe World Games.
The IWGA was founded on 21 May 1980 inSeoul, South Korea, asWorld Games Council by 12 international sports federations with a worldwide reach that were not yet part of theOlympic Games.[1] The intention was to increase the popularity of the sports represented by these federations. The IWGA was constituted underSwiss law as a non-governmental and non-profit-making organisation.
In 1984, theWorld Games Council was renamed as theInternational World Games Association.[2] Since its creation, the number of member federations has increased to 39 with the most recent admissions being theInternational Sambo Federation andInternational Wushu Federation in May 2021.[3]
The highest body of the IWGA is the General Meeting. It is chaired by the President. It is composed of representatives from Member Federations, with one vote per federation. General Meetings can be held whenever deemed necessary, but one must be held each year as the Annual General Meeting (AGM). Among other rights, the General Meeting has the power to:
Federations that intend to become a full member of the IWGA must be part of theAssociation of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations (ARISF). Since 2014, IOC recognition has become a prerequisite for International Federations to become a Member of the IWGA.[5] Sports that want to be recognised by the IWGA need to have a worldwide significance but actually must not be in the programme of the Olympic Games. Increasingly, international sports federations that take part in the Olympic Games have maintained a presence in the World Games for the disciplines and events that cannot be included in the Olympics, e.g. compound and field archery, acrobatic and aerobic gymnastics.
Since 2020, Affiliate Status was introduced for full Members ofASOIF andAIOWF.
Affiliate status is temporary, and only open to those Federations that are not a Member of the IWGA and feature on the programme of the next edition of The World Games or of other sport events that the IWGA organises.[5]
The followinginternational sports federations are members of IWGA.[6]
| Artistic and dance sports | |
|---|---|
| Ball sports | |
| Martial arts | |
| Precision sports | |
| Strength sports | |
| Trend sports | |
| Past official sports | |
| Invitational sports (never made official) | |
