AIMS Membership Application Process

The Alliance of Independent Recognised Members of Sport (AIMS) Membership Application process is open to any interested International Federations governing a sport at world level, wishing to enter the Olympic Movement.

SportAccord in cooperation with AIMS manages the AIMS Membership process and criteria, being the collective body of the Umbrella Organizations (Association of Summer Olympic International Federations ASOIF, Association of International Olympic Winter Sports Federations WOF, Association of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations ARISF and Alliance of Independent Recognised Members of Sport AIMS).

There are three types of criteria to be fulfilled:

• General criteria
• Legitimacy criteria
• Sport Governance criteria

See details in the sections below

1. 3 Years of Existence

2. Not-For-Profit or equivalent Status

3. Universality:

1. 1. – 30 Approved National Federations (NFs) from a minimum of 3 continents (for Winter Sports)
   2. 60 Approved National Federations (NFs) from a minimum of 3 continents (for Summer Sports).  SportAccord will determine whether a NF of any given country (defined as a state having a National Olympic Committee recognised by the IOC) can be considered approved, verifying their compliance with organisational, activity and governance standards.
      The National Federations of the Applicant will be evaluated on the following:

1. 1. 1. Strategic Plan
      2. Annual Activity Reports
      3. Organisation of Development Programs (including for Youth)
      4. Digital Media/On-Line Presence
      5. Financial Statements
      6. General Assemblies
      7. Electoral Rules
      8. National Championship/Competitions Calendar
      9. Grassroots Programmes
      10. List of Stakeholders
      11. Official Registration (3 years existence minimum)
      12. Statutes
      13. Not-For-Profit Status
      14. Recognition Certificate from National Olympic Committee or National State Authority (i.e Sport Ministry)
      15. Relationship with other Organisations

4. Organisational Standard Compliance. The Applicant will be evaluated on the following:

1. Organisational Chart
2. Strategic Plan
3. Organisation of Development Programs (including for Youth)
4. Sport Presentation (including for Youth)
5. Annual Activity Reports
6. Digital Media
7. Audited Financial Statement
8. General Assemblies
9. Election Rules

5. Activities Standard Compliance. The Applicant will be evaluated on the following:

1. List of International Competitions
2. List of Stakeholders
3. Support for NFs/Members
4. Support for Continental Bodies
5. Support for Athletes
6. Program for Athletes Health
7. Athletes’ Representation in Governing Bodies
8. Gender Representation in Governing Bodies
9. Organisation of Sport for All events
10. Program for Athletes with Disabilities
11. Program for Athletes Entourage

6. Governance Standard Compliance. The Applicant will be evaluated on the following:

1. Official Registration (3 years existence minimum)
2. Statutes
3. Sport Rules
4. Code of Ethics
5. Conflict of Interest Policy
6. Gender Equality Policy
7. Code of Conduct
8. Sustainability Policy
9. Anti-Doping Risk Assessment
10. Anti-Doping Rules
11. Anti-Doping Statistics
12. Manipulation of Competition Rules
13. Education Anti-Doping
14. Social Programmes
15. Self-Assessment Good Governance

The Legitimacy criteria examines whether there are more than one Applicant or other Organisations claiming to be the governing body for the sport. The Applicant must demonstrate that it is the legitimate governing body for the sport. The following aspects will be evaluated in determining whether the Applicant is the legitimate governing body:

1. Origin of the Sport, and rivalry to existing members of the recognised sport movement
2. Sport Rules
3. Good Governance of the Applicant/s (assessed via the self-assessment tool developed by ASOIF)
4. Number of Members/National Federations
5. Number of Recognition Certificates of the National Federations either from the National Olympic Committee (NOC) or from the National Sport Authority (NSA) (e.g. Sport Ministry)
6. Popularity of the Sport (e.g. number of licensed Athletes, media exposure, broadcasting, on-line presence etc.)
7. Geographical Distribution of the Sport
8. Overall Structure and Development of the Applicant/s
9. The Nature of any Conflicts with other Sport Organisations claiming to be the governing body for the sport

The Sport Governance are similar to the legitimacy criteria and examines whether there is a compatibility issue between an Applicant/s and a Member of an Umbrella Organisation (ASOIF, WOF, ARISF and AIMS Members) or other Organisation recognised by the IOC (i.e: International Paralympic Committee, Commonwealth Games Federations etc.). The following aspects will be evaluated in determining whether there is a compatibility issue:

1. Origin of the Sport, and rivalry to existing members of the recognised sport movement
2. Sport Rules
3. Good Governance of the Applicant/s (assessed via the self-assessment tool developed by ASOIF)
4. Number of Members/National Federations
5. Number of Recognition Certificates of the National Federations either from the National Olympic Committee (NOC) or from the National Sport Authority (NSA) (e.g. Sport Ministry)
6. Popularity of the Sport (e.g. number of licensed Athletes, media exposure, broadcasting, on-line presence etc.)
7. Geographical Distribution of the Sport
8. Overall Structure and Development of the Applicant/s
9. The Nature of any Conflicts with Member/s of an Umbrella Organisation (ASOIF, WOF, ARISF and AIMS Members) or other Organisation recognised by the IOC. Any eventual outcome of the conflict (including the CAS decision where applicable) will also be evaluated to assess the fulfilment of the Sport Governance criteria.

1. Send a letter of intent
2. Sign an Acknowledgement Form (you can download the document clicking here)
3. Pay the Membership Application Fee (25.000 CHF)

For former GAISF Observers a discounted fee is applicable (10.000 CHF)    

Upon completion of the first 3 steps, the Applicant will receive the access to an On-line Platform to submit the application file and all the related documents.

Decisions on AIMS Membership are taken by the SportAccord Executive Committee once a year, usually at the SportAccord World Sport & Business Summit. Therefore, the Applicant will need to submit its full application file some months before the start of the Summit, which usually takes place in April. The deadline varies each year. For 2025, the deadline is 28th February 2025.

An Application can be commenced at any time.  The Application fee is valid for up to 4 years. Therefore, every Applicant has a maximum of 4 years starting from the date of the completion of the first 3 steps of the application process (see point 4 above) to complete successfully complete its application.

For the avoidance of doubt, the Applicant does not need to wait the end of the 4-year period. In fact, if the Applicant fulfils the criteria it is presented to the Executive Committee at the earliest opportunity, those decisions are taking place once a year. Therefore, the Applicants may complete successfully the process even during the first year of its application, in case its file is ready, and all the criteria are fulfilled.

If the Applicant fails to become an AIMS Member within the 4-year period, or earlier if its application is refused, the Application is terminated. In that case the Applicant will need to reapply, if they so wish and pay another Membership Application Fee.

The SportAccord Membership Commission evaluates the documents and verifies the fulfilment of the criteria. The Membership Commission is composed of 1 Representative of each of the Umbrella Organisations (ASOIF, WOF, ARISF and AIMS) and 1 Representative of the IOC. The SportAccord Membership Commission is chaired by the AIMS Representative.

The Membership Commission, with the support of the SportAccord Administration and Membership Team, produces a report to the attention of the SportAccord Executive Committee.

The SportAccord Executive Committee examines the report of the Membership Commission and decides if an Applicant has fulfilled the criteria to become an AIMS Member.

To summarize, the application process is composed of 3 phases:

1. Initial Phase, where the Applicant submits the letter of intent, signs the acknowledgment form and pays the Membership Application Fee.
2. Assessment Phase, where the Applicant submits the documentation which is assessed by the Membership Commission.
3. Decision Phase, where the Applicant is assessed by the SportAccord Executive Committee which decides if an Applicant qualifies for AIMS Membership by virtue of fulfilling all the AIMS Membership criteria.

The Applicant will be in constant contact with the SportAccord Administration and Membership Team, who will provide guidance throughout the process.

Furthermore, before the completion of the process the SportAccord Administration may transmit an intermediary report to the Applicant, so as to support the Applicant to identify technical issues and possibly guide the Applicant to progress on the fulfilment of the criteria and amend before submission to the Membership Commission.

The SportAccord Executive Committee examines the report produced by the Membership Commission and decides whether or not the Applicant has fulfilled the AIMS Membership criteria.

1. a) Negative Outcome: If the SportAccord Executive Committee decides that the Applicant failed to meet one of the criteria the Application is terminated. The Applicant will receive a report indicating the AIMS Membership criteria that are met and the one that are not fulfilled, with the relevant scores where applicable.
2. b) Positive Outcome: If the SportAccord Executive Committee decides that the Applicant fulfils all the AIMS Membership criteria, the Applicant is declared qualified and therefore the AIMS Membership is approved.

Please contact aimsmembership@sportaccord.sport for any queries.