SportAccord 2021 Virtual Launch Celebration on 25 May to Whet the Appetite for Ekaterinburg

LAUSANNE, Switzerland – Individuals, businesses and organisations that have registered for the SportAccord World Sport & Business Summit 2021 will have the opportunity to learn more about the event during a Virtual Launch Celebration following the International Federation (IF) Forum on 25 May 2021.

Those who have signed up as delegates, exhibitors or partners for SportAccord 2021 in Ekaterinburg, Russia, will be invited to the special event, which will take place from 15:45-17:00 Central European Summer Time (CEST) on 25 May, immediately after the conclusion of the fully virtual IF Forum.

The Virtual Launch Celebration will provide SportAccord 2021 participants with important information about the event less than six months before Ekaterinburg welcomes the sporting world for a week of networking from 7-12 November.

Dr. Raffaele Chiulli, President, SportAccord and GAISF (Global Association of International Sports Federations), Dmitry Chernyshenko, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, and Evgeny Kuivashev, Governor, Sverdlovsk Region, will be among those to welcome attendees at the virtual launch.

There will also be messages from SportAccord 2021’s Gold Partners and further details about the conference programme for sport’s most influential global gathering in Ekaterinburg.

“The SportAccord 2021 Virtual Launch Celebration will whet the appetite for the World Sport & Business Summit in stunning Ekaterinburg,” Dr. Raffaele Chiulli said. “The IF Forum is an invitation-only event specifically designed for International Sports Federations, but the Virtual Launch Celebration will open the door to a wider audience, increasing anticipation ahead of SportAccord 2021.

“This launch event represents an outstanding opportunity to learn more about a vital gathering on the calendar as the world of sport steers towards recovery and growth in the coming months and years following an extremely challenging time.”

SportAccord confirmed last month that the IF Forum 2021 had been brought forward to 25 May from its traditional autumn slot to allow the World Sport & Business Summit 2021 to be rescheduled for 7-12 November.

Registration is open for SportAccord 2021 in Ekaterinburg, the 19th edition of SportAccord’s flagship annual event. Organisations interested in becoming an official partner or exhibitor can contact SportAccord by emailing sales@sportaccord.sport, with SportAccord also offering an interactive exhibition floorplan and 3-D flyover of the SportAccord 2021 exhibition space.

You can follow SportAccord’s portfolio of events via Twitter @sportaccord or keep up-to-date via LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, VK, and Instagram.
High-Profile Speakers Outline ‘Lessons We Are Learning’ at IF Forum 2021

Attention now turns to SportAccord in Ekaterinburg as Virtual Launch Celebration wraps up IF Forum 2021
International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and 8th United Nations Secretary-General H.E. Ban Ki-moon are among the influential speakers that took part in the fully virtual International Federation (IF) Forum 2021.

The IOC President provided a significant update on preparations for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, with Keynote Addresses by Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and then H.E. Ban Ki-moon, who is also the Chair of the IOC Ethics Commission, following the Opening Address by Dr. Raffaele Chiulli, President of SportAccord and the Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF). The event, which brought together more than 300 leaders from over 125 International Sports Federations, explored the theme of ‘Lessons We Are Learning from a Global Crisis and How Sport and Society Can Emerge Stronger’.

The invitation-only IF Forum 2021 was staged virtually via the Olympic Capital of Lausanne in the Canton of Vaud in Switzerland, with expert speakers including representatives of the IOC, umbrella sports associations and individual IFs, as well as sports industry executives. Various topics were covered, 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’.

Dr. Raffaele Chiulli said: “This year’s IF Forum has been designed to give International Federations across the world timely insights so they can emerge from the challenges of the past year-and-a-half with more knowledge and the necessary tools to recover and grow in the coming months.

“We have an outstanding line-up of speakers and the SportAccord 2021 Virtual Launch Celebration will also provide an ideal opportunity to network with International Federations.”

Following the closing remarks of the IF Forum the Virtual Launch Celebration provided an exciting glimpse of what to expect at the SportAccord World Sport & Business Summit 2021 in Ekaterinburg, Russia 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.

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.”

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.