The XXI annual General Assembly of the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) concluded in Santiago, Chile, after two intense and productive days of meetings.
A total of 65 delegates, representing 51 National Federations from all five continents traveled to the Chilean capital city, first meeting on Thursday 21 for a workshop centred on two major topics: athletes’ health, and the calendar of events for the upcoming Olympic cycle – 2025 to 2028.
The Assembly officially kicked off on 22 March with opening speeches from Miguel Ángel Mujica, President of the Chilean Olympic Committee (COCH), and Loreto Santa Cruz, COCH General Manager.
The Assembly was then presented with a video message from International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach: “In the coming weeks, your athletes will concentrate on making their Olympic dream come true in Paris. All of us will support and assist them, to be able to give it their best.
“From the Olympic Qualifier Series to empowering women’s cultures, to delegating your anti-doping testing to the ITA, to strengthening your good governance, to developing a digital strategy for your sport, in these and so many other areas, you are promoting the sport and its values in an exemplary way. This is why I would like to congratulate all of you at the IFSC, under the great leadership of your President, my dear friend Marco Scolaris,” said the IOC President.
Shortly after being acknowledged by President Bach, President Scolaris took the floor and addressed the National Federations: “Last year we celebrated several successes, from the World Championships Bern 2023, which kicked off the qualification path to Paris 2024, to our first participation in events such as the European Games in Krakow, Poland, and the Pan American Games here in Santiago, to the five Continental Qualifiers that distributed another batch of Olympic quotas.
"We guaranteed that our athletes could compete and give the best of themselves, in the best and most equitable conditions – nothing less than they deserve. And we pushed the organisation to the limit to make this happen, after a year full of challenges.
“But even though we can say we made it as a sport in 2023, the world is still bleeding, even more than in 2022, and we must remember that sport is about bringing people together, for peaceful competition, respecting and enriching each other in our diversity. Inclusion is not just a word in sport, it is the everyday reality in the IFSC.”
Day one at the Assembly saw the delegates ratify the decisions made by the Executive Board in the past 12 months about memberships, while reports from the five Continental Councils, and the Ethics, Disciplinary, Medical & Anti-Doping, and Athletes’ Commissions marked the agenda on day one.
In the frame of the discussion about the sport, the Assembly approved the update of the Event, Athletes’, and Team Officials’ fees for the season 2025, and the adjustment of the three age categories competing at the Youth World Championships.
On Saturday, 23 March, reports from the Media & Communications, and Research & Development Departments opened the second and conclusive day in Santiago, which concluded with the third edition of the IFSC NF Forum, developed around the role of sports in society.
President Scolaris took the podium one last time and officially closed the XXI IFSC General Assembly, inviting all delegates and representatives to the III IFSC Climbing Summit, taking place on 6 and 7 December 2024, and to the XXII IFSC General Assembly, scheduled in Larnaca, Cyprus, in March 2025.