Less than a week until the EOA Congress 2022

Next week, the national flags of European countries will fly at the House of German Sport in Frankfurt, the venue for this year’s congress of the European Olympic Academies. The event will be held in physical attendance again after two years of pandemic digital gatherings.

The hosts, the German Olympic Academy (DOA) and the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB), have invited over 50 delegates, covering the continent geographically from Portugal to Armenia, to the four-day gathering. Numerous stakeholders of European and international sports will be present as well, among others, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the European Olympic Committees (EOC) and the International Olympic Academy (IOA). On a national level, a handful of sports associations will also take the opportunity to get to know this unique network for the dissemination of Olympic values.

On Monday, 21 November, the official opening will take place at Schloss Biebrich, very close to the place where National Olympic Academies from Europe met for the first time in 2012. The following day will see lectures by experts and discussions around the congress theme “The Olympic Movement in Stormy Waters”, making up the content part of the event. A critical overview of the current work of the National Olympic Academies shall be gained by addressing the political challenges in the wake of the war in Ukraine, as well as the topic of sustainability and credibility and integrity within the Olympic Movement. The conference, which is divided into four thematic blocks, is rounded off by representatives of the IOC, the EOC and international experts.

At the EOA General Assembly on Wednesday, 23 November, elections of the Executive Board are scheduled in addition to the voting on the future strategic direction of the organisation. The current President, Prof. Dr. Manfred Laemmer, will stand for re-election, as will the majority of the current members of the Executive Board.

The convention will conclude on Thursday with an EOA-internal workshop for the member delegates, who, under the moderation of the German Olympic Academy, will exchange their views on various matters.