Just last year, IFMA became a proud member of the International World Games Association at the annual General Assembly of IWGA in St.Petersburg at the SportAccord Convention 2013. History was made yet again at this year’s AGM when muaythai was included into the Official Sports Program amongst 29 other sports participating in 2017 World Games in Wroclaw, Poland.
IFMA President Dr.Sakchye Tapsuwan stated “This a proud moment for Muaythai and IFMA. The World Games has become one of the major sporting events in the world and for IFMA as new member of IGWA to be included, is truly an honour”.
IFMA General Secretary, Stephan Fox said “We had a solid foundation, popularity amongst both genders, a mixture of culture and sport along with many other aspects has been the winning formula”.
IFMA Sports Director, Charissa Tynan stated “The last World Games in Cali had over 500,000 spectators and Muaythai already had a roadmap in place for 2017 with qualification events on all five continents. The inclusion in the World Games will now give the athletes the chance to compete in two IOC patronised events which are the World Combat Games and the World Games. On top of the biennial World Championships and World Cup, as well as continental events under the Olympic flag such as the Asian Beach Games and Indoor Asian Martial Art Games, truly shows that IFMA is very close to being IOC recognised”.
IFMA President, Dr.Sakchye Tapsuwan thanked the IWGA Executive Board for their faith in Muaythai and expressed his deep gratitude towards the IFMA General Secretary, Stephan Fox, Rafal Szlachta, the IFMA Sports Director Charissa and everyone involved in seeing IFMA through this historical chapter.
