XIX General Assembly

The XIX IFSC General Assembly took place at the Swissôtel The Stamford in Singapore, with 65 delegates from 46 National Federations making the trip to the southeast Asian country. On hand to welcome the delegates was IFSC President Marco Scolaris, who thanked the Singapore Sport Climbing and Mountaineering Federation for hosting the annual event during his opening address.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach spoke to the attendees via video message, in which he acknowledged the work done by the IFSC in planning for the future and for its excellent preparations for the Olympic Games Paris 2024, specifically referencing the Olympic Qualifies Series, a new IOC-led Olympic qualification event hosted in compact city centre venues over four days between March and June 2024.

The General Assembly voted to accept five new National Federations from Iceland, Kosovo, Kuwait, Lebanon, and Morocco, bringing the total number to 99 members. There were also changes in representative bodies in Azerbaijan and name changes for four Federations.

With much of the day taken up with discussions linked to governance and succession planning topics, the National Federations were led through recommendations linked to Executive Board structure, Continental Councils roles, democracy, and term limits by the IFSC Governance Commission that will be voted on during an extraordinary General Assembly later in the year.

Before the end of day one, the delegates were asked to vote on a proposal to allow current IFSC President Marco Scolaris an opportunity to run for one further term in 2025. The proposal was accepted by the majority with the request for a robust succession plan developed to ensure continuity at the top level of the IFSC.

The Mayor of Singapore – Southeast District, Mohd Fahmi Aliman was the guest of honour for the final day of the XIX IFSC General Assembly. During a short speech, Aliman thanked the IFSC and the delegates for coming to Singapore and highlighted the impact that climbing has had on the Southeast Asian country with more than 40 gyms now operating.

Delegates from the 46 National Federations were presented with the IFSC Annual Report 2022, introduced by IFSC President Marco Scolaris. He highlighted some of the achievements of the year including climbing’s introduction to the European Championships in Munich, Germany, and the successful IFSC Climbing Summit.

General Director Piero Rebaudengo presented the new IFSC staff structure, while Treasurer Pierre You presented the Financial Report, which was subsequently approved by delegates.

Before the Continental Councils delivered their annual reports, IFSC Secretary General Debra Gawrych presented the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations Integrity Unit, highlighting the extra support the unit can offer the IFSC for the development of its policies, then introducing three candidates for the newly reformed IFSC Ethics Commission, USA's Patti Rube, Ethiopian Dagmawit Girmay Berhane, and Italian Mario Morelli who were all approved by the delegates.

The afternoon session began with a video presentation from two representatives of the IFSC Para Climbing Commission, Sebastian Depke and Sian Spencer, who presented the review and plan for classification, as well as rules and equipment for Para Climbing before President Scolaris mentioned the potential inclusion of Para Climbing as an additional sport at LA28.

IFSC Vice Presidents Kobinata Toru and Wolfgang Wabel both presented to the audience: Kobinata provided updates regarding Paris 2024 and the Olympic Qualifier Series, while Dr Wabel a review of the IFSC World Cup Series, Youth World Championships, European Championships, and The World Games, before introducing a video to promote the upcoming World Championships in Bern, Switzerland. This was followed by the selection of Seoul as the host of the Climbing and Para Climbing World Championships after a presentation from the Korea Alpine Federation.

Olympian and Athletes’ Commission President Shauna Coxsey spoke passionately about the value that athletes give to having positions on the Executive Board and representation throughout the Commissions' structure. She also shared the focus of the Athletes’ Commission for 2023, Speed and Boulder formats, athletes' health, fairness, and inclusion.

Looking ahead to the rest of 2023, President Scolaris highlighted the European Games in Poland, the Asian Games in China, and the Pan American Games in Chile, which will include Climbing for the very first time. His final act of the busy two-day programme was to thank the hosts of the General Assembly, all the delegates who actively participated and the IFSC staff for their continued hard work and dedication.