Although the event is still two years away, the Association of National Olympic Committees gathered Sunday in Madrid to discuss the inaugural ANOC World Beach Games, set for 2019 in San Diego.
The Games, originally scheduled for 2017, were pushed back two years to allow “optimum time” for National Olympic Committees to prepare their athletes for the event.
For its part, the ANOC has reached out to international federations about the event and says “positive” discussion have been taking plays and “all have shown great enthusiasm in taking part,” according to a statement read at the ANOC meeting.
It is projected that up to 2,500 athletes could participate in the ANOC World Beach Games, hailing from potentially all 206 global National Olympic Committees.
The World Beach Games are slated to include: beach sports: volleyball, flying disc, American football, football, motorcycle, boules, handball, mini golf, cheerleading, rugby, tennis; hybrid Sports: life-saving and triathlon; and water sports: powerboat, aquatics, rowing, sport fishing, canoe, sailing, sub-aquatic, dragon boat, waterski/wakeboard, surfing.
Part of Sunday’s discussions included a presentation from ESP Properties, commercial and creative advisors for the event, which talked about its study projecting the marketing and broadcasting revenue the Games could generate.
The development of an anti-match-fixing code and anti-doping code also were topics of note.
Unrelated to the World Games were the results of the NOC debrief for Rio 2016 and the creation of working groups with the International Olympic Committee to study accreditation, transportation, ticketing systems and collaboration with international federations for future Olympic Games.
“As we enter into a new Olympiad it is a good opportunity to reassess our objectives for the years ahead,” ANOC President Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah said. “NOCs make a vital contribution to the development of the Olympic Movement and at ANOC it is our job to ensure that they are properly represented and that we provide them with the best level of support. Our Executive Council meeting today was focused on how best to do that. The meeting was highly productive and allowed us to hear updates on our latest progress and initiatives. We are committed to ensuring that NOCs work closely with all Olympic stakeholders to guarantee a brighter future for the Olympic Movement.”
The next ANOC commission meeting will take place April 27.
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