Birmingham: “We are ready!” The International World Games Association (IWGA) will hold its Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 19th May 2022 as an on-site meeting in Madrid. For the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, The World Games family will meet in person.

Because of still existing international travel COVID regulations, the IWGA also offered member federations the chance to participate online in the meeting, which will be chaired by IWGA President José Perurena. Seven of the thirty-nine member federations want to take advantage of this opportunity. The member federations voted at the AGM in November 2020 to allow both remote and hybrid Annual General Meetings, through an amendment to the Constitution. For the necessary decisions during the meeting, the IWGA has developed its own voting tool which has already been successfully used in the 2020 and 2021 AGMs.

The most important item on the agenda of this year’s AGM is the report of the Birmingham Organising Committee (BOC) on the status of preparations for The World Games 2022. 3,600 athletes from more than 110 countries will compete for The World Games gold in Alabama’s second largest city from 7th to 17th July.

Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin will personally invite participants at the AGM to experience Southern hospitality in his city. His message will be, “We are ready.” IWGA President José Perurena says: “We look forward to Mayor Woodfin attending in person. We see this as a sign of how great is the anticipation in his city to welcome the world to Birmingham.” At the same time, he said he was looking forward to being able to meet again. “The pandemic is not over yet. But the toughest restrictions have been lifted. The fact that we can finally meet again is a positive sign.”

IFMA Director General Charissa Tynan will attend the meeting in person to represent IFMA in Madrid together with IFMA Executive Board Member Gustavo Luna.

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