Sporting for All – Bringing sports to everyone

K-1 ARENA One could almost touch the energy in the air. Two days on  four rings more than 300 fighters were seeking for the victory in the Arena Sparta in Prague. It was the tournament  in the WAKO K-1 discipline – the strongest, the toughest. The level of Adrenalin was extremely high. Many of the fighters entered in the fights seeking for the KO. Unpredictable and interesting fights, fights without a compromise. Two days there was a live stream on the Czech full contact Union web site. Congratulations to the organizer for the fantastic tournament.   Jan Frana, Czech full contact union Vice president, representing the organizer: “One division K-1 is enough to fulfill the expectations for the good fights. We have here all age divisions: cadets, juniors, seniors, female and men, and all weight divisions. With more than 300 entries, we have four rings and fights two days with Gala night show with all senior final fights with one fight in Pro for the title.  I can tell that we can be satisfied with the good tournament and  good quality of the fighters from 20 countries. Many teams came here with the national  team selection so we have here […]

BEAUTIFUL WAKO YOUTH There were eight days enjoying kickboxing in Dublin, City West Conventional  center. World championships for the youngest categories in WAKO  were the real celebration of life. Sporthall and hotel were full of young smiling faces,full of laugh,  it was an explosion of the emotions in the arena where fights were the reasons of many joy and many tears. These days WAKO can be proud of its young army of athletes  standing one by one under the slogan: one WAKO, one Champion. This year it was 47 countries from the all five continents  registered, with 1366 athletes and 1692 entries. The numerous number of athletes we had from Russian federation :142, Ireland, the host country : 139 and above hundred we had from Italy 111, Poland 123; the United Kingdom 83, Hungary 82, Turkey 67, Croatia 53, Greece 52, etc. This is a fantastic fact that one national team can count almost above 200 participants (athletes, coaches, officials etc) like we had this year in Dublin. ” The priority of this Championships is the youth, and that is of the most importance of the WAKO. WAKO has put a very big focus on the children, the foundation of […]

Turkey On September 14, a working meeting on the development of SAMBO for the visually impaired in Turkey was held in the office of the International SAMBO Federation. Roman Novikov, the Head of the Commission on SAMBO Development for the Blind and Visually Impaired at the Russian SAMBO Federation shared his experience of the organization’s work with physically challenged athletes with Gadir Mamedov, President of the Turkish Sport-Combat Sambo Federation. They also raised the question of the development of demo SAMBO for wrestlers with musculoskeletal system disorders, and the details and nuances of this direction were clarified by Natalya Novikova, the President of the Blind SAMBO Foundation. The result of the meeting was a decision to set up a commission for visually impaired athletes at the Turkish Sport-Combat Sambo Federation. Republic of Crimea A heroic act by Anatoly Krapolev, the Head of the Regional Commission for SAMBO Development for the Blind and Visually Impaired at the Sambo and Judo Federation of the Republic of Crimea, is an example to follow! Anatoly, despite his poor eyesight, rushed to the aid of people in a burning building. The blaze was caused by a short circuit due to supply disruption. Six families were […]

The Kadayawan Festival is an annual festival held in Davao City, Philippines, when people give thanks for an abundant harvest from the land, the rivers and the sea. Kadayawan is considered one of the most spectacular and famous festivals in the Philippines. Traditionally, it lasts for one week in August, but various events may go on for more than a month. One such event was a Sambo tournament that took place on September 10 during the Kadayawan Festival.

The beautiful city of Cheong Ju in the Republic of Korea was the venue for the World Martial Arts Masterships with 17 martial arts coming together in the spirit of combat sport, friendship and sporting and cultural exchange. 5 of the 7 AIMS member martial arts took part at these Cheong Ju Martial Arts Masterships, with the opening being a world class show. His Excellency the Governor of Chungcheongbuk-do Province and chairman of the event Mr Lee made an emotional speech on the spirit of martial arts, unity and diversity. The General Secretary of the United Nations Mr Ban Ki-Moon delivered a surprise speech on the power of sport and the contribution sport makes towards world peace. AIMS president and IFMA General Secretary Stephan Fox delivered a heartful speech thanking the city of Cheong Ju for hosting this event, the Governor for inviting all the athletes to this beautiful part of the world and addressing the athletes as the ambassadors stating that peace begins with a smile and that our athletes are the example of this. The stage was open for 7 days of cultural and sporting exchange.

An important SportAccord meeting took place in Rio de Janeiro chaired by President Mr Patrick Baumann welcoming all the new council members, who look forward to a fruitful cooperation. The new council members being : President, Mr. P. Baumann, FIBA Secretary General, (ASOIF), Vice Presidents Mr. R. Chiulli, UIM President (ARISF) and  Mr. S. Fox, IFMA Secretary General (AIMS); Treasurer, Ms. M. Casado, ITU President, (ASOIF); Ms. K. Caithness, WCF President, (AIOWF),  Mr. R. Fraccari, WBSC President (ARISF), Mr. G.F. Kasper, FIS President, (AIOWF), Mr. N. Lalovic, UWW President, (ASOIF), Mr. J. Perurena, IWGA President, (Associate Members). Many issues were discussed with the next formal meeting to be held in Lausanne during the SportAccord IF Forum in November 2016.  

Vizela, Portugal – The 2016 Minigolf Open European Championships were held from August 24th through August 27th on the VizelGolfe miniaturegolf and concrete courses. Although rain and thunder suspended play many times during the first day, the organizers of the tournament ensured that all twelve stroke-play rounds and all match-play rounds were completed during the four days.  There were 170 participants for the tournament, including 123 players representing sixteen countries, making it the largest event to date in 2016 that was organized by the World Minigolf Sport Federation (WMF) and it’s continental federations. The miniature-golfers from Germany continued their winning streak in 2016 by taking both the men’s and women’s team titles.  Both championship races were very close with the German men only winning by 2 strokes (team total 1126 – 6 players for 8 rounds) over team Sweden (team total 1128). The Czech Republic took the bronze medal (team total 1141).  During the Czech Republic’s rounds, Marian Strasko had an amazing run on the concrete course setting a world record of 87 strokes over four rounds, helping his finish in the individual competition. The race was almost as tight in the women’s division as team Germany won by just […]

On the 12th on August, AIMS President and General Secretary were invited to attend an exclusive event in Rio de Janeiro, hosted by UN-Habitat and Nexus Brazil, to speak on the topic of Youth and Sustainable Development Goals during their time in Rio as part of the Olympic Games. The AIMS President spoke on using the power of sport to create a positive change. Gifts were presented by the General Secretary of AIMS, Gerhard Zimmermann to the hosts of the event, Ms Isabela Perez, a member of Nexus and philanthropist and organiser Ms Dana Podmolikova Youth & Urban Sports Specialist from UN-Habitat. AIMS will continue to collaborate and cooperate with it’s partners and other bodies to advocate the power of sport for the betterment of society.  

The 129th IOC Session in Rio saw a number of important decisions made in the world of sport, including the inclusion of the 5 SportAccord members to the sports programme for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Additionally, the newly appointed SportAccord Council who were in attendance at the sessions took the opportunity to not only congratulate the new sports on the successful votes, but also to get reacquainted with each other for the upcoming year in SportAccord.

After being granted provisional recognition in April 2014, the International Ski Mountaineering Federation (ISMF) has been granted full recognition by the International Olympic Committee at the 129th IOC Session in Rio. AIMS would like to congratulate ISMF, under the leadership of President Armando Marriott. AIMS President, Stephan Fox, Secretary General, Gerhard Zimmermann and ARISF President Raffaele Chiulli, were all present at the announcement in Rio to congratulate the sport. The full official recognition of ISMF is great motivation and inspiration for the 23 members of AIMS that are working towards earning such a spot in the Olympic Family. This is also the third sport from AIMS that has gained official IOC recognition showing the close cooperation between AIMS, ARISF and IOC. AIMS will continue to facilitate and encourage it’s members in their strive for full individual recognition from the IOC.  

Baseball, softball, karate, skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing have all been added to the Tokyo 2020 programme, it was confirmed yesterday in Lausanne. The decision was made in a single vote by International Olympic Committee (IOC) members at the session in Rio. “We want to take sport to the youth,” said IOC President Thomas Bach. Presidents of all the five sport said that the Olympics have been their dream for a long time, and now the hard work has finally paid off. “We have a real vision around what these new sports will add to the mix for Tokyo 2020, and it’s a vision that isn’t just limited to these five sports but what we want the Olympic programme to do, what we want sport to be in the future of the Olympic Games,” said IOC Sports Director Kit McConnell. “This is fantastic and a historical moment for the Olympic Movement!” stated AIMS President and SportAccord Vice President Stephan Fox who was there to congratulate the 5 presidents along with AIMS Secretary General Gerhard Zimmermann. The President and Secretary General of AIMS were there at the 129th IOC Session in Rio, to congratulate the President of all sports in Rio, SportAccord President, […]

The WDF 2016 Europe Cup will take place September 20 – 24  2016 at the Hotel Zuiderduin Egmond Aan Zee  in the Netherlands. 32 Men’s teams and 26 Women’s teams will be competing, The 18th WDF Asia Pacific Cup will take place in Osaka Japan Wednesday 19th to 22nd of October  2016 Countries competing will be  Iran, Pakistan, India, Mongolia, Korea, Hong Kong, Australia and Japan. Visit www.dartswdf.com for more information on Darts around the World.

  The SportAccord Council met by tele-conference on Wednesday, 27 July 2016. The meeting was chaired by newly elected President, Mr. Patrick Baumann and confirmed the appointment of new Members to the SportAccord Council as proposed by its stakeholders: Mr. P. Baumann, FIBA Secretary General, (ASOIF) Ms. K. Caithness, WCF President, (AIOWF) Ms. M. Casado, ITU President, (ASOIF) Mr. R. Chiulli, UIM President (ARISF) Mr. S. Fox, IFMA Secretary General (AIMS) Mr. R. Fraccari, WBSC President (ARISF) Mr. G.F. Kasper, FIS President, (AIOWF) Mr. N. Lalovic, UWW President, (ASOIF) Mr. J. Perurena, IWGA President, (Associate Members) The new SportAccord Council addressed the distribution of responsibilities within the Council and elected Mr. Raffaele Chiulli and Mr. Stephan Fox as Vice Presidents and Ms. Marisol Casado as Treasurer. Following an internal review carried out during the month of June by SportAccord President, Mr. Patrick Baumann and SportAccord Convention President, Mr. Francesco Ricci Bitti, the Council approved the combining of the Managing Director role for both organisations. As a consequence, the Council appointed the current Managing Director of SportAccord Convention, Mr. Nis Hatt, as Managing Director of SportAccord. Further, Mr. Philippe Gueisbuhler has been appointed as Head of Administration, overseeing the administration of […]

TIGHT SCHEDULE OF GREAT WORLD WAKO TOURNAMENTS AND CHAMPIONSHIPS The beginning of the year was reserved for celebration of kickboxing on 13th Athens Challenge, 06th-07th February 2016. Athens Challenge Tournament is without any doubt one of the top 5 Kickboxing events across the Wold and the biggest Kickboxing event in Greece. The tournament was in disciplines: Point Fighting, Light Contact , Kick Light, Low Kick and Musical Forms. Athens Challenge is the First Tournament of the World Kickboxing Series (WKS). The WKS is a cooperation between The Best WAKO Kickboxing Tournaments during one calendar year(fighters will be ranked according to their results in these tournaments. On all the events they will be able to gather points for personal ranking and at the end of the year the WKS will announce the winner in all the categories). The WAKO tournaments that are in the WKS: 6/7 February 2016 – Athens Challenge, Athens, Greece (1437 participants, 107 clubs, 13 nations) 3/6 March 2016 – Irish Open, Dublin, Ireland (4080 participants, 298 clubs, 32 nations) 15/17 April 2016 – Austrian Classics, Innsbruck, Austria (2241 competitors, 244 clubs, 31 nations) 29/30 April 2016 – Yokoso Dutch Open, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (788 participants, 90 clubs, […]

The 2nd day startet with a lot more sunshine and a few more fans than the day before. Today the last games of the preliminary round were on the schedule to find out what teams go directly into the semifinals and who will fight tomorrow for the last spot in the semifinal. Again all the teams showed excellent fistball skills and the games were often very close. Per example the games between Germany and Austria of the men and also Brasil against Germany of the women were two games that showed how good youth fistball can be. The preliminary round of the men teams was won by Austria and of the women teams from Germany. Both teams won all there games of the preliminary round. Here you find the full results and finals standings after preliminary round, the schedule for the next day with the qualification round and the semifinals as well as some action pictures.

The South East Asian Games Council comprising of 11 National Olympic Committees have just convened in Kuala Lumpur for an important meeting, where one of the topics is the confirmation of the 38 sports for the 2017 SEA Games. Muaythai (Muay), under IFMA has been announced as one of the 38 sports included in this programme. This is fantastic news for both IFMA and FAMA and all South East Asian national federations, as it was in 1995 when Muaythai under IFMA and FAMA was first officially included in any multi sport games, which was in fact, the SEA Games. Since then, Muaythai has truly become an international recognised martial art and combat sport. It was 1998 when Muaythai was included as a demonstration sport in the Asian Games; 1999 IFMA, FAMA and Muaythai was officially recognised by the Olympic Council of Asia; 2006, recognised by GAISF, today known as SportAccord; 2008 by TAFISA; 2009 ARAFURA Games, 2013, Muaythai is recognised by the International World Games Association and included in the 2017 games as a full medal sport; 2015 Muaythai is recognised by FISU and included in the World University Championship Programme and 2016, Muaythai is also one of the 23 sports of […]

The AIMS Conference in Lausanne was honoured to have SportAccord Convention President, and ASOIF President Mr Francesco Ricci Bitti to open with a special welcome note.  Mr Bitti thanked AIMS President, Stephan Fox for his leadership of AIMS, agreeing on the point that the focus at the moment does not lie on whether a sport is Olympic and non-Olympic, rather the relevance of sport at the professional and grassroots levels and the responsibility IF executives have in fulfilling their roles in front of the youth of the world. He stresses that from the IF level, the roles are moving from the traditional roles of organising and ruling the sport to being more sophisticated, commercially effective, saving the integrity and better governance.  Mr Bitti shed some light on the events of past year in Sochi, the work that is being done on improving the structure of SportAccord and that coordination with 2 bodies is always tough. He assured that though many things could change through the course of time, the mission of SportAccord remains strong and limited, to host events and games and provided services to the IFs. Mr Bitti thanks the AIMS international federations delegates and Mr Fox for all […]

It was honour to have Mr Joël Bouzou, President and founder of Peace and Sport and World Olympians Association speak at the Annual AIMS Conference which was held this time at the Olympic capital of Lausanne. Mr Bouzou opened speaking on the international values that sport conveys of hard work, fair play, respect, the kind of references that society needs today. He stressed that the IFs are useful platforms, stating that “…when policies are made, it is established all over the planet; this provides an opportunity, not only to better sport, but guarantees equity for participants all over the world to be able to compete in the same conditions which in turn sets up dialogue where sport can contribute towards peace.” He urged the delegates as sport leaders talk to governments to tackle issues as  equity is exercised through sport and the community work on peace through sport is growing. A number of AIMS federations already have established close cooperation with Peace and Sport. Mr Bouzou reported on the highly successful April 6 event, where 850 projects were put together as a massive contribution to sport and peace, where 15 million people were involved in the campaign; the goal being […]

World Association of Kickboxing Organizations, WAKO, governing body in Kickboxing has the pleasure to announce the newly established WAKO Fair Play Award under the auspices of the International Fair Play Committee (CIFP), a recognized organization by the IOC. This will be a prize awarded yearly in order to focus on fair play, ethics, best practice and to raise awareness about the understanding of fair play, to act preventive and to ensure positive development for all, within the sport of Kickboxing. The Award shall encourage the promotion of Fair Play principles in Kickboxing sports, and are given in recognition of services rendered over an undefined period. The WAKO Fair Play awards consist of two plaques, one for organizations promoting the values defined in the policy and one award yearly to an individual that have made an extraordinary contribution within the Fair Play rules defined. WAKO IF President Mr. Borislav Pelevic comments; “WAKO want to focus on bringing on the surface all the good things happening all around the world and how our sport contribute to the society. We want to create enthusiasm, pride and to use such opportunities to inspire each other and others. It is all about: learn and share and to […]

The Federation Internationale de Savate and its continental confederations hold regular championships in three main disciplines: Savate Assaut, Savate Combat and Canne de Combat. The qualifying tournament of the 2016 European Championships in Savate Combat took place recently in Greece. Many thanks to the organizer, Christos Kakos, the Hellenic federation and their team of volunteers, who gave us a warm welcome in a beautiful place. There are many advantages to a tournament being held close to the sea! The weigh-in took place on Thursday and the fighting began on Friday morning. The combats were supervised by an experienced team officials, who assured clear guidance of the participants and management of the event. Thank you to all of them! All the national delegations were presented at the Opening Ceremony, with each delegation accompanied into the arena by volunteers in traditional Greek costumes. On Saturday evening, the junior finals and three of the senior women’s finals took place in an atmosphere of excitement, adrenaline and excellence.  The other finals will take place in October in France. Congratulations to all the athletes! M-56 Champion : PLACE Lorenzo FRANCE Vice-champion : CAPUTI Léonardo ITALY JM-60 Champion : SHCHERBACHENKO Sergei, RUSSIA Vice-champion : MARIMOUTU Eddy, […]

  62 players from 15 countries were competing in Kosovo the last weekend of June. The 2016 WMF World Adventure Golf Masters (WAGM) tournament experienced new participants and new winners on a unique MOS-course in Pristina, Kosovo.  On June 25th and 26th, the largest and most diverse field ever of sixty-two participants from fifteen countries competed for individual and team honors at Pristina Golf. Team Sweden edged out Team Germany 1107 to 1112 strokes to capture their first WAGM team title.  “It feels fantastic to finally beat the Germans”, said Team Sweden coach Pauli Kuikka; Germany had been seeking its sixth straight WAGM gold medal, but Sweden’s consistent play and ability to manage the technically difficult terrain was the Swedish coach’s key to victory.  “Our team spirit and togetherness allowed us to support each other and help us overcome the expected tough shots on this difficult course.” Derice Shumilov Susoho, a university student from Sweden, provided his country individual success by becoming the first player outside of Germany to capture the overall title.  Tied with Daniel Vicek (CZE) with the final round to go, Susoho shot an impressive 50 in that round to win by 4 shots over Vicek.  “I […]

2016 WMF World Adventure Golf Masters in Kosovo will be played on the 25-26th of June A record number of players and teams from the record number of countries will be lining up to compete in the 2016 WMF World Adventure Golf Masters minigolf tournament taking place in Pristina, Kosovo this weekend. The sixth edition of the World Minigolf Sport Federation event will see 61 players and 11 teams from 14 countries play on the Kosovo Adventure Golf course in Pristina on the 25 and 26 June, with titles to be contested in individual and team categories. Pasi Aho, WMF Sport Director said “We are glad to be here and are enjoying the hospitality and friendliness of our hosts and are looking forward to an exciting championship.” The countries competing alongside the host nation are Albania, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Sweden, and United States of America. The last one will compete at the WMF international event for the first time after very long break. Each team is represented by 4 players. The tournament formula consists of 5 (plus 1 final) rounds. Results will be available LIVE at http://www.kosovominigolf.com/sq/world-adventure/. Main interesting detail of […]

A special meeting took place in Bangkok between the newly elected SportAccord President, Mr Patrick Baumann, an IOC Member and also the FIBA Secretary General. Mr Baumann paid a visit to AIMS President and IFMA Secretary General Mr Stephan Fox, who congratulated the new SportAccord president on his election and in turn, Mr Baumann extended congratulations to AIMS for recently gaining IOC recognition. SportAccord is the umbrella organisation for all Olympic and non-Olympic intermational sport federations as well as organisers of multi–sport and sport related international associations. Mr Baumann was elected president at the last SportAccord General Assembly in Lausanne, on the 22nd of April 2016. Mr Baumann discussed with Mr Fox his vision on the future of SportAccord and the multi-sport Games such as the World Combat Games, Mind Games and possibly the Urban Games. They also discussed the importance of the cooperation between all members of SportAccord grouped together in the 5 umbrella bodies that are ARISF, ASOIF, AIOWF, AIMS and the Associate Members. The Mr Fox thanked Mr Baumann on behalf of all 23 AIMS members and is looking forward to a fruitful cooperation within SportAccord and the IOC.

April 19th, 2016 was historical day for sport with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the  Alliance of Independent Recognised Members of Sport (AIMS) in Lausanne. AIMS was established in 2009 and is composed of IFs that are recognised by AIMS and are members of SportAccord but are not members of ASOIF, AIOWF and ARISF. By granting recognition to AIMS, the IOC acknowledges the role of AIMS and it’s valuable contribution to support the Olympic Movement in the achievement of its missions and goals; in the fields of the development of sport, promotion of sport in support of athletes. AIMS now uses a designation that recognises its relationship with the IOC in compliance with the rules set forth in the guidance provided by the IOC. To mark this milestone and historic move in sport, AIMS has revised it’s official logo, proudly including the 5 colours of the Olympic rings. The colours are universal where at least one appears on every single flag in the world – symbolising unity through Olympism. AIMS is looking forward to a continued close cooperation with the IOC to promote physical and sporting activities to develop society and to provide support […]

All 23 international federations which are members of AIMS heartily congratulate the 5 sports which have been recommended by unanimous IOC Executive Board decision to feature at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Baseball/Soft ball, Sport Climbing, Surfing, Karate, and Skateboarding will be forwarded to the IOC General Assembly in Rio. AIMS sincerely thanks the IOC for their vision on the Olympic Agenda 2020 and this historical decision is one of the many important objectives of Agenda 2020. AIMS will continue to work closely with  the IOC as an IOC recognised  IF umbrella group and will continue to work closely with the other 4 recognised umbrella groups, ASOIF, AIOWF, ARISF and SportAccord. AIMS will continue its very good contribution to support the Olympic Movement.

The opening ceremony of the Russia – SAMBO – United Kingdom exhibition took place today, April 26, in Russia’s State Duma. The event coincides with the competitions of the annual President’s SAMBO Cup in the UK and other projects of the International SAMBO Federation. Guests viewed the exhibits before the opening ceremony. Photos were arranged on stands in the style of famous British architectural monuments tracing the history of the President’s SAMBO Cup in the UK and other joint Russian-British projects. These include a meeting at Kensington Palace on the 75th anniversary of SAMBO, a performance by sambists in the style of James Bond, a meeting of Russian and British war veterans, and other events. The Challenge Cup itself was in the place of honor at the exhibition. Guests wanting a glimpse of the future had an opportunity to take photos in a special stand‑in cutout of a Scotsman in a kilt and SAMBO jacket. The third President’s SAMBO Cup will be held in Edinburgh, Scotland this September. Have a quick look at the exhibition by watching this special video: It’s interesting that the opening ceremony of the exhibition began by involving one of Russia’s best known politicians in SAMBO. Vladimir Zhirinovsky, […]

FIBA Secretary General Patrick Baumann has been elected President of SportAccord after overcoming the President of World Underwater Federation Anna Arzhanova at the SportAccord General Assembly. Patrick Baumann is an IOC member and International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Secretary General was elected the new SportAccord president today at the SportAccord Convention in Lausanne. Mr. Baumann said that he acknowledges his challenge and will be “trying to build an atmosphere which can bring us all together.” He says SportAccord can serve as “the voice of sport.” AIMS is looking forward to a close cooperation with the new President and will continue to play an important part within the recognised world of sport.

History has been made! A historical MoU has been signed between the IOC represented by IOC President Dr. Thomas Bach and AIMS represented by its counterpart Stephan Fox. The signing ceremony was witnessed by 4 Vice Presidents from the IOC, and IOC Director General Christophe De Kepper; this is a testament of the importance of the signing. AIMS, the umbrella group of 23 international sport federations, which are members of SportAccord, now have the right to be included in the “Olympic Movement Directory”. AIMS proudly supports and promotes the vision and mission of the Olympic movement by sustaining and developing sports, importantly through the education of youth through sport and to continue to be credible in sport through applicable principles of the Olympic Movement. The IOC acknowledges the role and leadership of AIMS, and its valuable contribution to support the Olympic Movement. “I must thank the IOC President Dr. Bach for his vision, for his mission and for his support of sport and for the international federations which are striving to gain individual recognition by the IOC whom nevertheless work towards good governance and the overall development of sport for the good of society. Today, 23 international sport federations showed their gratitude to the IOC […]

Songkran is an important holiday celebrated in Thailand as the traditional New Year’s Day from 13 to 15 April. It is a festival of unity, where people who have moved away usually return home to their loved ones and elder family members. IFMA invited many guests to their garden at their beautiful headquarter to celebrate and show respect to the IFMA President. AIMS is a family of 23 sports working together for the good of sport and executive board member Michal Buchel who is also the CEO of International Sambo Federation and Fariq representing Sepaktakraw showed their respect on behalf of AIMS to the IFMA president. The cooperation of 23 federations for overall betterment of sport is the foundation of AIMS and respect for one another, the various cultures of the sports bring beautiful moments like these.

An important meeting took place between AIMS President Stephan Fox and the Secretary General of Sepaktakraw (ISTAF), Dato Abdul Halim Kader. The cooperation between the 23 AIMS members, SportAccord and the IOC and the other 3 umbrella groups, ASOIF, AIOWF and ARISF has been the topic of this discussion. Sepaktakraw has gain immense popularity in recent years, included in many multi sport games, Asian Games, Asian Beach Games, SEA Games and so on. It is also one of the interested IFs striving for individual IOC recognition. Dato Kader congratulated the AIMS President for the achievements and his vision in the co-operation of all Olympic and non-Olympic sports for the betterment of sport. Also present was Mr Muhammad Fariq, Chairman ISTAF Control Committee,  who had a separate meeting with the IFMA Sport Director Charissa Tynan regarding the cooperation of Muaythai and Sepaktakraw at events for the promotion and development of each individual sport.      

This year, the SportAccord Welcome Dinner will be held at the Olympic Museum organised by the International World Games Association (IWGA), the Association of IOC Recognised International Sport Federations (ARISF); and this year the Alliance of Independent Recognised members of Sport (AIMS) is proud to be the third group hosting the night. This highly anticipated dinner will see big and prominent names in the world of sport such as the distinguished IOC President, Dr Thomas Bach, WADA president Sir Craig Reedie, ASOIF President Francesco Ricci Bitti, AIOWF President Gian Franco Kasper, ARISF President Raffaele Chiulli, our own AIMS President Stephan Fox amongst many others. The dinner will be an exclusive event on the 18th of April at the beautiful Olympic Museum, a venue that is not only elegant but fitting for the gathering of all the international big names and recognised federations in the world of sport.    

The 8th Colombian SAMBO Championship and the 1st “Colombia for Peace” International Sport and Combat SAMBO Tournament will be held from March 18 to 20 in Cali, Colombia. The motto of the tournament is “Win for Peace!”. “We came up with the idea of holding an international ‘Colombia for Peace’ tournament because we work a lot with poor athletes who live in war zones. Many of them are angry when they come to us, and show a very high level of aggression, but then after SAMBO training, they become calmer and become good people,” says Omar Lopera, President of the Colombian SAMBO Federation. The “Colombia for Peace” tournament is being organized by the Colombian SAMBO Federation, with the support of the Institute of Sport, Physical Education and Tourism of Valle del Cauca Department (INDERVALLE) and the Governor’s Office of Valle del Cauca Department. The competitions will be held at the National Sport School, the country’s most famous sports university, at the modern sports arena Coliseo Mundialista Iván Vassilev Todorov. “We use SAMBO to teach athletes to respect and follow the rules, which means to respect and comply with the laws in general. We actually train real citizens, who will represent our country; we train the people our country needs,” […]

Mr. Jörn Verleger was introduced as new voluntary Secretary General at the IFA Congress in Argentina back in November 2015. The 44-year old sport enthusiast from Bavaria aims high when it comes to the future of fistball. He talks to us about the progress of the IOC Recognition and new IFA structures.   IFA: Hello Jörn, you are in office for 100 days now. What were your main tasks during this time as Secretary General? Jörn Verleger: The main focus was on the organizing duties, like the preparation of the first Board meeting on 15th of January. Due to the new elections and restructuring of the commissions we had to hold several ballots. Furthermore, we received information from the IOC about the ongoing recognition process. The work for the required documents is already in progress for several months, but the questionnaire from the IOC was extended and the requirements specified. I think there is still a lot of work ahead for us. IFA: How could we present our sport more attractive for spectators and sponsors in the future? Jörn: Fistball is a fascinating sport with impressive dynamic within the game. We have to convey these dynamic to the fans and […]

The 79th Congress of the International Sports Press Association (AIPS) is now being held in Doha. As part of this major event, Nikolai Dolgopolov, AIPS Vice President and Chairman of the SAMBO Commission, presented a report on the development of SAMBO last year. There was special emphasis on the development of SAMBO worldwide: the President’s Cup in Manchester and the World Championship in Casablanca attracted a large number of journalists and received enthusiastic coverage in the media. The speaker especially highlighted the image of SAMBO that FIAS promotes through people, personalities and SAMBO heroes. Attractive young female SAMBO wrestlers are featured on the covers of glossy magazines, showing that beauty can be nimble and strong. Along with this, a new source of SAMBO fans and supporters has appeared with the return of a living legend — Fedor Emelianenko. And, of course, there was a photo known all over the world — Belarusian Stepan Popov carrying an injured opponent from the mat in the final of the 1st European Games in Baku in 2015. This is nothing unusual for SAMBO wrestlers. But for the audience, and for the development of our favorite sport, one picture is worth a thousand words in […]

AIMS is made up of 23 recognised international sport federations that make up about a quarter within the four recognised umbrella groups that include ASOIF, AIOWF and ARISF. AIMS President Stephan Fox said that this 25% is the minimum of AIMS ISF and sports that should be included in multi sport games. Giving the athletes from all the sports a chance to be included in the various games including both summer and winter, continues to be one of the main priorities of AIMS. Mr Fox stated that a good example of this is the upcoming Asian Beach Games in Danang Vietnam, where 5 out of the 20 selected sports come from the AIMS family. AIMS will continue the drive to popularise each and every member sport in the interest of the athletes, so they can proudly compete at these multi sport games representing their sports, their country and most importantly themselves.

This weekend the European Women’s and Men’s Indoor Champion Cup took place. The reigning champions from TSV Pfungstadt (GER / Men) and TSV Dennach (GER / Women) were able to defend their trophies. While Dennach won back to back titles, the squad from Pfungstadt even won for the third consecutive time. Congratulations to the winners! =============================== Women’s Indoor Champions Cup 2016 – Rohrbach (AUT) Semi-Finals: TSV Dennach (GER) – Ahlhorner SV (GER) 4:1 (11:6, 11:4, 5:11, 12:10) Union Arnreit (AUT) – STV Oberentfelden/Amsteg (SUI) 4:0 (11:7, 11:8, 11:5, 11:5) Bronze Medal Match: Ahlhorner SV (GER) – STV Oberentfelden/Amsteg (SUI) 4:3 (9:11, 6:11, 12:10, 9:11, 15:14, 11:1, 11:3) Gold Medal Match: Union Arnreit (AUT) – TSV Dennach (GER) 1:4 (9:11, 9:11, 11:6, 10:12, 5:11) Final Ranking Women: TSV Dennach (GER) Union Arnreit (AUT) Ahlhorner SV (GER) STV Oberentfelden/Amsteg (SUI)     Men’s Indoor Champions Cup 2016 – Diepoldsau (SUI) Semi-Finals: TuS Kremsmünster (AUT) – TV Schweinfurt-Oberndorf (GER) 4:1 (11:8, 11:8, 11:9, 6:11, 11:6) SVD Diepoldsau-Schmitter (SUI) – TSV Pfungstadt (GER) 1:4 (7:11, 5:11, 6:11, 12:10, 4:11) Bronze Medal Match: SVD Diepoldsau-Schmitter (SUI) – TV Schweinfurt-Oberndorf 0:4 (10:12, 2:11, 9:11, 8:11) Gold Medal Match: TSV Pfungstadt (GER) – TuS Kremsmünster (AUT) 4:0 […]

It has been officially announced that the IOC Executive Board has recently approved recognition status of the of the Alliance of Independent Recognised Members of Sport (AIMS), subject to the signing of an MoU and some minor amendments to the AIMS Constitution. After the above mentioned requirements are satisfied, AIMS will receive provisional recognition and become an “IOC Recognised Organisation”. IOC President Dr. Thomas Bach sent a personal letter to AIMS President Stephan Fox informing the organisation of the wonderful news. Final amendments to the AIMS Statutes are aimed for completion and ratification at the next AIMS AGM in April during the SportAccord convention, 2016. “On behalf of the AIMS, I would first of all like to convey our deepest gratitude to the President of the IOC for his vision and implementation of Agenda 2020, the IOC Sports Department headed by Kit McConnell for his support and Sarah Van Ballekom for her continued professionalism throughout this process.” said AIMS President Stephan Fox. Congratulations to all the 23 International Member Federations of AIMS.

The AIMS logo consists of a handshake signifying the cooperation, friendship, respect and fair play of all sports, to use the power and benefits of sport for the good of society. A special meeting took place between the 23 AIMS federations and the IOC to establish official cooperation between the IOC and AIMS where a special present was given to the IOC Present, Dr. Thomas Bach – the official AIMS jacket for the chilly winter days ahead and a token of appreciation by AIMS for his vision in sport. The jacket was presented to IOC Director General, Christophe de Kepper, and IOC Sports Director, Kit McConnell. 

Implementing agenda 2020 requires a close relationship between the International Olympic Committee the recognised and the non-IOC recognised sports federations. This has been expressed at the first joint IOC/AIMS workshop, held in Lausanne, the Olympic Capital. The meeting was chaired by Kit McConnell, the IOC Sports Director.The meeting was opened by IOC Director General, Christophe de Kepper, welcoming all the 23 AIMS member federations and Raphael Chiulli, the ARISF President, outlining the importance of cooperation between AIMS and the IOC, the important meetings which took place in the build up to this meeting between IOC President, Dr. Thomas Bach, AIMS President, Stephan Fox, the IOC Sports Department, Kit McConnell and himself. Building a better world through sport is the main focus in the vision of Olympism which is a philosophy of life to play sport at the service of human kind. Stephan Fox, AIMS President, thanked the IOC for inviting the 23 recognised international federations to the IOC headquarter organising this historical and important meeting. He stated that it was a historical day for AIMS and all AIMS sports, a significant step towards an important relationship with the IOC and the Olympic movement. He spoke of how the cooperation between […]

Lausanne was the place for the World Combat Games meeting. The event showcasing the spirit of combat sports and martial arts. The meeting was opened by SportAccord chairman and the President of Winter Olympic Federations, AIOWF, Mr. Gian-Franco Kasper. On behalf of SportAccord, AIMS President and SportAccord council member, Stephan Fox, made all the presentations discussing structure, possible host cities and criteria for the next World Combat Games. Important decisions have been made especially the Olympic sports to showcase the non-Olympic disciplines. A possible yearly gala organised by the 16 world recognised martial arts and a draft of a pledg e of cooperation of the 16 IOC and/or SportAccord recognised combat sports grouped together ASIOF, ARISF and AIMS. All 16 sports have voted to continue to work closely together and the next Combat Games meeting is set with major decisions on the agenda at the SportAccord convention 201  

Saturday the World Championship ended. The week started with beautiful weather and interesting games in the three groups. In the middle of the week a ridge of a hurricane brought heavy rain, hail and a bad storm so that firs a game had to be interrupted and then started anew the next day. But it got worse the next night when the whole center court was a mess after the heavy storm. It was not possible to play at all the whole day. The playing schedule had to be changed for the next day. Only because of the effort from everybody at the world championship it was possible to continue the next day with the new schedule and also with live streaming of the games. The new mode with the double elimination system created an interesting Championship with enough time to play also for all the new teams. Austria, Brazil, Germany and Switzerland made their way to the semi finals Saturday afternoon. Germany won in 3 strait sets against Austria. Brazil fought hard against Switzerland so that the game lasted the full 5 sets with a better ending for Switzerland. Before the bronze medal game and the big final the other classification […]

As with every year, AIMS actively participated at the IFU Forum and this year it was part of the panel in implementing good governance in sport with accountability through transparency and democratic decision-making. AIMS General Secretary Gerhard Zimmermann stated that the credibility of AIMS as a recognised umbrella organisation of 23 sports is important. AIMS over the last 12 months conducted a research on all it’s 23 members to ensure that each and everyone is in line with good governance. AIMS Executive Board member Julie Gabriel, stated that AIMS truly sets a high bar for membership and we must practice what we preach to ensure that each and everyone practices and sets proper examples. Michal Buchel, AIMS Executive member states that we all must follow the principles of Olympic regardless of having achieved IOC recognition or not. AIMS president, Stephan Fox who represented AIMS on the panel stated that good governance is the foundation of sport. “We cannot close our eyes to members of the sport family that are not following the practice” and AIMS is measuring their members and is not afraid to discipline the ones that do not follow proper sport ethics. The credibiilty of sport is important, […]

The AIMS council convened for an important meeting before the SportAccord Extraordinary Congress to discuss strategy and a combined stance. Special guest FIAS President, Vasily Shestakov, who attended the meeting also invited all AIMS members for a FIAS sponsored dinner. AIMS President Stephan Fox made a detailed report on all the recent developments of AIMS while Gerhard Zimmermann reported on the organizational aspects. All the 23 non-Olympic recognized AIMS members were in full attendance of the Extraordinary General Assembly of SportAccord.  

Yesterday the Men’s World Championship in Argentina started with the opening ceremony in Villa General Belgrano,  which included folkloric dances and a Tango performance and the official welcome-speech by Jose Gonzales, president of the organisation committee and Karl Weiss, president of the international fistball association. Directly after the ceremony the opening game was held at the same venue. Around 1000 visitors enjoyed the game between the local team of Argentina against the team from the USA. Argentina won the game i 3 strait sets. The opening ceremony as well as the opening game was broadcasted via live stream to the whole world. Unfortunately the team of India was not able to come to the games. So the schedule for group C had to be changed. Group C will now play a double round against each other on day 2 and day 3. You can find all information about the world championship including the schedules, news, all results and tables as well as the schedule of the live stream in the multi lingual homepage of the world championship: http://faustball2015.com/

The 23 recognised world sports will be gathering again in Lausanne, the Olympic Capital for the 2015 SportAccord IF Forum. There will be various important meetings including the AIMS Executive Board meeting and the Assembly at which the representatives of the 23 sports will gather to make important decisions for the overall development of sport. AIMS is one of the 5 umbrella groups in SportAccord along with, ARISF, ASOIF, AIOWF and the Associate Members; and cooperation and networking for the overall development of sport is important.

The four presidents of the SportAccord umbrella organisations Mr Gian Franco Kasper (AIOWF), Mr Raffaele Chiulli (ARISF), Mr Francesco Ricci Bitti (ASOIF) and Mr Stephan Fox (AIMS) met in Kuala Lumpur to discuss the continued close cooperation between world recognised sports represented in the 4 groups. AIMS president, and IFMA General Secretary Mr Fox, thanked all the distinguished presidents for this important meeting.

IFMA has published more than 15 books over the last 20 years promoting all aspects of the art and sport of muaythai. The new book just has been released titled Muaythai Revealed. 172 pages of images shot by Richard Juilliart, the official four time Olympic Games photographer. Richard is one of the most famous sport photographers covering the Olympic Games in Torino, Beijing, Vancouver and most recently in London.

As the last of the big European Teams Switzerland nominated the squad for the men’s world championship in Argentina. Cyril “Fausto” Schreiber will again be part of the team with witch the Swiss plan to take revenge on the lost final of the European Championship final against Germany last year. There’s also one rookie in the team, but it will not be one of the youngest players. It’s Mario Kohler from FB Widnau. The last part of the preparation will be a training camp in Turkey . The squad: David Berger (Engwilen / STV Wigoltingen), Martin Dünner (Frauenfeld / STV Wigoltingen), Mario Kohler (Widnau / Faustball Widnau), Lukas Lässer (Diepoldsau / SVD Diepoldsau), Fabian Marthy (Flums / SVD Diepoldsau), Malik Müller (Widnau / SVD Diepoldsau), Kevin Nützi (Egerkingen / STV Oberentfelden), Ueli Rebsamen (Kreuzlingen / STV Wigoltingen), Raphael Schlattinger (Diepoldsau / SVD Diepoldsau), Cyrill Schreiber (Walzenhausen / Faustball Widnau). Read the whole story here.

2015 WMF Minigolf European Cup will take place on 1-3rd of October at the Appelscha Minigolfclub (Netherlands) 113 participants from 10 European countries will compete for the title of the best men and women club team The Minigolf European Cup for national club champion teams is taking place at the Appelscha Minigolfclub in the Netherlands. The Appelscha Minigolfclub, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, has taken great lengths to host the event, including adding covered protection and lighting to an already remarkable 18-hole Felt course.  Beginning October 1st, 113 players from eleven men’s and ten women’s teams from Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and the Netherlands will compete in 3-days event.  The competition will conclude with the men’s and women’s finals played on Saturday, October 3rd. Uppsala BGK from Sweden is the reigning men’s European Cup champions, while MGC Gottingen from Germany is the defending women’s team. Mr. Roelof Hooijsma, President of the Minigolfclub Appelscha and Head of the Organizing Committee of the European Cup 2015, said “We are very excited to organise such a great Minigolf event the same year the club is celebrating its 50th anniversary. We are very proud that the European […]