Birmingham is selected to host The World Games 2021
International World Games Association (IWGA)
World Games 2021 will take place in Birmingham/Alabama/USA. This decision was announced by José Perurena, President of the International World Games Association, at noon on Thursday, 22 January 2015, at a press conference in the Mövenpick Hotel in Lausanne.
During its meetings on Wednesday the IWGA Executive Committee had made a final assessment of the Bids from Birmingham (USA), Lima (Peru) and Ufa (Russia), and evaluated the delegations’ final presentations. The IWGA Executive Board took the final decision on the host city for the 11th edition of this multi-sports event at its meeting on Thursday morning.
This announcement is subject to successful negotiation of contractual conditions, and subsequent confirmation by the IWGA‘s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in April 2015. The agreement with the next host city will be signed right after the AGM. The 10th edition of The World Games will be staged in 2017 in Wroclaw Poland. The IWGA flag will be handed over to the representatives of Birmingham during the closing ceremony in Wroclaw on 30 July 2017.
Giving reasons for the decision in favour of Birmingham/Alabama, President José Perurena mentioned the excellent bid presented by the host city. “We are happy to showcase our sports in Birmingham in July 2021, and we are sure that we will be offered optimal conditions for our sportsmen and women there. All the bids we received were of very high quality, and it was not easy for us to reach a decision. We have to deliver nothing less than outstanding World Games. We are convinced that Birmingham will exceed these expectations.” José Perurena stated.
Birmingham offers all prerequisites to stage an event like The World Games. The IWGA President added. This refers not only to the required sporting venues and infrastructure. The city also meets expectations in terms of organizing skills and the support of the city administration and the National Olympic Committee.
So, after Santa Clara 1981, the inaugural edition, The World Games will return to the USA. Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama, with more than 210,000 residents. It will be the first time that the city hosts an international multi-sport event.
The bidding process had been started by the IWGA in early 2014. Birmingham (USA), Lima (Peru) and Ufa (Russia) applied to host the 11th edition of The World Games.
ABOUT THE WORLD GAMES
The World Games – under the patronage of the IOC – are a quadrennial and multidisciplinary sports event, which showcase 25+ sports, such as Gymnastics, Squash, Tug of War, Sumo and Roller Sports. About 4,500 athletes and officials from approximately 100 countries take part in The World Games. The 10th edtion of The World Games will take place in Wroclaw/ Poland from 20 to 30 July 2017.
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Past editions of The World Games
1981 Santa Clara (USA)1981 Santa Clara (USA)
1985 London (GB)1985 London (GB)
1989 Karlsruhe (GER)1989 Karlsruhe (GER)
1993 The Hague (NED)1993 The Hague (NED)
1997 Lahti (FIN)1997 Lahti (FIN)
2001 Akita (JPN)2001 Akita (JPN)
2005 Duisburg (GER)2005 Duisburg (GER)
2009 Kaohsiung (TPE)2009 Kaohsiung (TPE)
2013 Cali (COL)
The city of Wroclaw in Poland was awarded to host The World Games 2017. The 10th edition of the multi-sport event will take part from 3 August to 13 August 2017. Wroclaw is the capital of Lower Silesian Voivodeship with more than 640.000 residents.
Video: The World Games 2017 Wroclaw, Poland
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International World Games Association
Founded in 1980, the International World Games Association (IWGA) is a non-governmental and non-profit-making international organization constituted under Swiss law. Made up of International Sports Federations, it administers a quadrennial and multidisciplinary sports event, The World Games, which aspires to equal and exceed the importance of world championships organized by each federation individually.
The principal aim of the IWGA is to develop the popularity of the sports governed by its Member Federations, to improve their prominence through excellent sporting achievements, and to conserve all the traditional values of sport through The World Games.
Since its founding meeting in Seoul, Korea, IWGA membership increased from 12 to currently 37 International Sports Federations (IFs). For IFs to become a Member of the IWGA, their membership with SportAccord (formerly General Association of International Sports Federations – GAISF) is prerequisite. The IWGA is a member of SportAccord and represented on its Council. Another requirement is that the sports, or disciplines of sports, proposed by the federations for inclusion in The World Games are not currently on the program of the Games of the Olympiad.
Part of the Olympic movement
The International World Games Association is an organization recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Affirming that IOC and IWGA share the same values of promoting physical and sporting activities for the well-being of society, the two organizations signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in 2000. In this MoU the IOC pledges to maintain its cooperation with the IWGA, to provide expertise and to help in the promotion of IWGA activities within the Olympic Movement. The IOC also grants its patronage to the hosts of The World Games and provides the Local Organizing Committees with technical assistance through its knowledge management programs.
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Video: The World Games highlights host city election of 2021 Birmingham
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Video: World Games Coming to Birmingham in 2021
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Video: Birmingham’s reaction World Games
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Video: Alabama Governor Robert Bentley comments about the announcement that the city will host the 2021 World Games
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Birmingham, Alabama
Population
City of Birmingham: 212,113
Metropolitan Birmingham-Hoover-Talladega: 1,313,105
Alabama: 4,849,377 (July 1, 2014 rank 23)
Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport
Public transportation
Birmingham BJCTA MAX Transit
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Video: Downtown Birmingham
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Video: Aerial view of the new Railroad Park in Birmingham
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Video: City of Birmingham historical population trends
1900: 38,415
1950: 326,037
1960: 340,887
1970: 300,910
1980: 284,413
1990: 265,968
2000: 242,840
2010: 212,237
2013: 212,113
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Video:Birmingham Civil Rights Movement
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Video: Birmingham- Civil Rights Movement -D Day
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Video: Birmingham- Civil Rights Movement -D Day
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Video: Bull Connor -Birmingham
Commissioner of Public Safety for the city of Birmingham, Alabama, during the American Civil Rights Movement.
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Dilemma X 
January 25, 2015 at 1:39 pm
Outstanding for the city of Birmingham, I hope the state supports this hard won effort promotionally as well as financially.