Organizers discussed budgets and sports programs as Birmingham, Alabama, gears up to host the 2021 World Games.
The event’s Coordination Committee (CoCom) held their first meting with likely venues also discussed.
International World Games Association (IWGA) chief executive Joachim Gossow spoke of successful dialogue and a frankness of discussion.
“The meeting took place in a great atmosphere created by frank and honest discussions and based on well-prepared presentations on all items,” he said.
“In running through the whole agenda, both parties gained a better understanding of each other and came to a common outlook in all matters.”
Gossow also commented on the attendance of Randall Woodfin, the newly-elected mayor of Birmingham.
“The visit of mayor Randall Woodfin at the beginning of the CoCom meeting in the morning enabled the IWGA President José Perurena to congratulate him personally on his election,” he said.
“Birmingham’s new mayor showed up with detailed knowledge about the project, and the IWGA representatives could appreciate that he is as committed to the Games as his predecessor, mayor [William] Bell.”
Gossow said that the final program for the Games, which will take place from July 15 to 25 at Legion Field, should be finalized at the SportAccord Convention in Bangkok, Thailand, in April.
This decision to take the games to the US was announced by José Perurena, President of the International World Games Association, in January 2015.
It will be the 11th edition of the multi-sports event with the last edition of The World Games staged in July 2017 in Wroclaw, Poland.
By Thomas Giles
Republished with permission from insidethegames.biz.