Day two of the IF Forum, being held at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, saw sports leaders assemble to address shared challenges and opportunities around the theme of the new global reality in sport. Olympic and non-Olympic sports alike – big and small, new and traditional – discussed paths through global disruption and the work required to remain relevant to today’s participants and audiences.
The day began with academic Professor Simon Chadwick talking about some of the big global shifts that sport has had to face recently, whether geopolitical or technological. A panel discussion followed on commercialisation and monetisation in an age of audience fragmentation, featuring International Biathlon Union Secretary General Max Cobb, ITTF President Petra Sörling, FEI Executive Director, Commercial, Marketing, and Communications Department François Vergnol and World Flying Disc Federation President Rob Rauch. The panel noted the importance of storytelling. They recognised that by organising major international sports events, the IFs and their athletes have effectively become creators of universally-resonant content.
FIVB President Fabio Azevedo, three-Time Olympic swimming medallist, Pernille Blume, ISPS Handa Executive Director Midori Miyazaki, Global Observatory for Gender Equality and Sport CEO Dr Lombe Mwambwa, International Floorball Federation President Filip Suman continued the discussions as their panel focused on visibility, viability and the promise of women’s sport. Moderator Ana Jelusic Black challenged the panelists to explore how equality needs to go beyond simple parity of athlete numbers. The panelists responded with lessons on how to drive greater numbers of women in coaching, ensure equal placement in broadcast schedules and more.
With the protection of competition categories being one area being looked at carefully by IFs, a panel discussion on rulemaking around gender eligibility saw a lively debate. The discussion was facilitated by IOC Medical and Scientific Commission member Professor Yannis Pitsiladis and featured Humans of Sport Executive Director Dr Payoshni Mitra, Francine Niyonsaba, an Olympic silver medallist in athletics, University of Lausanne Sociologist of Science & Sport Dr Madeleine Pape, Jürgen Steinacker, Head of the Division of Sports and Rehabilitation Medicine Center of Internal Medicine, University of Ulm and Boris van der Vorst, President of World Boxing. The tensions in reconciling fairness, safety and inclusion were acknowledged and the need for a clear scientific basis for decision-making was agreed upon.
Athlete expectations for tomorrow’s IFs were the subject of wide-ranging exchange among a panel featuring Cody Almond, Olympian and former professional ice hockey player, Niccolo Campriani, Vice-President of Sports, LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Organising Committee and Olympic champion and Ana Jelusic Black, with Kaveh Mehrabi, Director of the IOC Athletes’ Department as moderator. All noted that support from IFs for athletes becoming athlete leaders is essential to ensuring those athletes are then best able to contribute to the future success of their sports.
There were updates for summer and winter sports alike with presentations from both Milano Cortina 2026 and LA 2028, while attendees also enjoyed a preview of the SportAccord Convention 2026 in Baku. Presentations from IF Forum partners rounded out the day. Attendees took advantage of the chance to learn more about the latest risk assessment and management practices, a Canadian host city now boasting a decades-long history of organising major international sports events and comprehensive IT solutions to empower modern IFs from Marsh, Explore Edmonton and Dawson Andrews respectively. The IF Forum continues for a third day tomorrow, 29 October.
