2010 will surely be a year for the history books for all world-recognised martial art and combat sports. The games will be held in Beijing, capitol city of the Republic of China, host city of the recent 2008 Olympic games. The combat games are organised by Sportaccord, the umbrella organisation of the international sport federations regrouping 104 international sport federations. Sportaccord is a partner of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and is part of the Olympic family. The Sportaccord Combat games are a new and comprehensive sporting competition. It features the 13 IOC and/or GAISF/Sportaccord recognised martial arts and combat sports. Each sport will bring its best world-class athletes including Olympic and world champions all qualified through a series of qualifying events organised by their respective international federations. Undoubtedly, these games will set a new benchmark in combat sports events and martial arts in general. The combat games will also include a very important cultural program for each martial art to display their traditions and cultural roots as well as their educational legacy. Today is a historical day, as in one year; we will be witnessing the inauguration of the Sportaccord games with the opening ceremony on the 27th of August 2010. 4 years in the making, the combat games have been progressively developing from the selection of the candidate cities to the preparation for the first edition. Meetings have been held at the Sportaccord in Korea, Beijing, Athens, Denver, the Olympic headquarters in Brussels and the IOC headquarters in Lausanne. Preparation work is well underway in all related areas, such as sports marketing and promotion, cultural program, event look and anti-doping. Without a doubt, this is the result of the collective efforts and close cooperation of the 13 martial arts involved and the leadership of the Sportaccord. Most recently, all competition venues have been confirmed, in first-class indoor stadiums popularised at the recent Olympic games. In Beijing, the preparatory committee is in full operation, with 5 departments and a total of 30 staff committed to the day-to-day event preparations. Various activities have been launched and IFMA has already visited Beijing to witness first hand the prep-work being done. IFMA, the world governing body for the sport of muaythai will hold qualification events in all 5 continents. The IFMA world championships in Bangkok from November 27th-December 5th will see 1000 athletes vying for only 11 coveted spots to compete in Beijing. The final will be held on the day of HM the King’s birthday, is expected to draw around 300,000 spectators. IFMA is a proud member of Sportaccord and the combat games, and from Sydney to London, Tokyo, Los Angeles to Johannesburg, 128 countries will compete for the honour of representing their country and to be part of the martial arts event of the century, the 2010 Sportaccord Combat games, Beijing. Download file Source: http://www.ifmamuaythai.org/HTML/09_0903_MA.html
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