The West Midlands is set to host the SportAccord World Sport & Business Summit from 7 to 11 April 2024.
Nearly two years on from hosting the biggest-ever Commonwealth Games, the West Midlands will roll out the red carpet for more than 1,500 international delegates from 120 sporting federations to showcase why it is at the heart of sport in the UK.
From basketball, bobsleigh and bodybuilding to tennis, triathlon and taekwondo, presidents and CEOs from global sporting organisations will visit Birmingham and the West Midlands for SportAccord’s conference programme, which includes specialist streams CityAccord, HealthAccord, LawAccord and MediaAccord. The summit will also feature panel events, evening networking sessions and a keynote speech during the event’s opening ceremony from International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach, ahead of the year’s biggest sporting celebration, the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands said, “The SportAccord World Sport & Business Summit offers a huge opportunity for the West Midlands’ people, venues and suppliers to come together and put on a great show for international sports leaders, continuing the positive buzz and legacy of the Commonwealth Games.
“Our region has world-class sporting infrastructure, unrivalled connectivity and a passion and knowledge for hosting major events. We will be showing visiting officials and senior delegates why the West Midlands deserves to sit at sport’s top table when they are picking the destination for their next championships, conference or business event, which will provide a welcome boost for our local businesses and communities.”
With less than two months to go until “sport’s most influential industry gathering”, final touches are being made to the summit’s event programme focusing on this year’s theme, the ‘power of sport’, and speaker list. The programme already includes Olympic gold medallist Chris Boardman MBE; Secretary General of the World Union of Olympic Cities, Melanie Duparc; and CEO of Global Esports Federation, Paul Foster.
The West Midlands’ cultural, tourism and sporting credentials will also be on show for SportAccord delegates as part of an excursion programme, which will include the region’s Industrial Revolution story at Black Country Living Museum and Ironbridge Gorge; and its arts and literary heritage at Shakespeare’s Birthplace and the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. The region’s instrumental role in shaping Britain’s sporting tradition – having invented rugby, lawn tennis and the Football League, and hosted the forerunner to the Olympic Games in Much Wenlock – will be covered during a sporting tour, to include Villa Park and Edgbaston Stadium.
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