International Gymnastics Federation Explained

International Gymnastics Federation
Size:200px
Abbreviation:FIG
Founding Location:Liège, Belgium
Headquarters:Avenue de la Gare 12
Location:Lausanne, Switzerland
Region Served:Worldwide
Leader Title:President
Affiliations:Longines, VTB, Cirque du Soleil
Revenue:US$17.32 million[1]
Revenue Year:2019
Expenses:US$16.19 million
Expenses Year:2019

The International Gymnastics Federation (French: Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique, abbr. FIG) is the body governing competition in all disciplines of gymnastics. Its headquarters is in Lausanne, Switzerland. It was founded on 23 July 1881 in Liège, Belgium, making it the world's oldest existing international sports organisation.[2] Originally called the European Federation of Gymnastics, it had three member countries—Belgium, France and the Netherlands—until 1921, when non-European countries were admitted and it received its current name.[3]

The federation sets the rules, known as the Code of Points, that regulate how gymnasts' performances are evaluated. Seven gymnastics disciplines are governed by the FIG: artistic gymnastics, further classified as men's artistic gymnastics and women's artistic gymnastics; rhythmic gymnastics; aerobic gymnastics; acrobatic gymnastics; trampolining; double mini trampoline, tumbling and parkour. Additionally, the federation is responsible for determining gymnasts' age eligibility to participate in the Olympics.

After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, FIG barred Russian athletes and officials, including judges.[4] It also announced that "all FIG World Cup and World Challenge Cup events planned to take place in Russia ... are cancelled, and no other FIG events will be allocated to Russia ... until further notice." FIG also banned the Russian flag at its events.[5] In 19 July 2023, FIG decided to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes and support personnels to participant events under individual neutral athletes.[6]

Organization

The main governing bodies of the federation are the president and vice presidents, the Congress held every two years, the Executive Committee, the Council, and technical committees for each of the disciplines.

, there were 161 national federations affiliated with FIG, one of which have been suspended, as well as one associated federation, one provisional federation and the following five continental unions:[7]

Across all disciplines, participation in FIG sanctioned events exceeds 30,000 athletes, about 70% of whom are female.[8]

Presidents, and their tenures, of the FIG

Period Name Country
1881–1924Nicolaas Cupérus
1924–1933Charles Cazalet
1933–1946Adam Zamoyski
1946–1956 Count Félix Goblet d'Alviella Goblet d’Alviella
1956–1966Charles Thoeni
1966–1976Arthur Gander
1976–1996
1996–2016Bruno Grandi
January 2017–Morinari Watanabe

Morinari Watanabe was elected president of the organization since 2017.[9]

Competitions

See main article: List of gymnastics competitions.

According to the technical regulations of the International Gymnastcs Federation,[10] the competitions officially organized by FIG are:

Other official FIG competitions include:

Defunct events formerly organized of sanctioned by FIG:

Age eligibility rules

See main article: Age requirements in gymnastics. The FIG regulates the age at which gymnasts are allowed to participate in senior-level competitions. The purpose is to protect young gymnasts. This has caused some controversy, and there have been cases of age falsification.[17]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Who's in the money? EXCLUSIVE analysis of our survey of International Federation finances. The Sports Examiner. Rich. Perelman. 24 May 2020. 5 June 2022.
  2. Web site: Today in Francophone History. About.com. 2008-08-21. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20081005030655/http://french.about.com/od/culture/a/0723.htm. 2008-10-05.
  3. Web site: Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique / History / Milestones . FIG . 2018-07-06.
  4. Web site: Bissada . Mason . Dellatto . Marisa . 8 March 2022 . Forbes . International Gymnastics Federation Bars Russia, Belarus As Sports World Reacts To Ukraine Invasion .
  5. FIG decision regarding the conflict in Europe . 26 February 2022 . International Gymnastics Federation . 26 February 2022.
  6. Web site: 19 July 2023 . FIG Executive Committee decision concerning the participation of athletes with Russian and Belarusian sporting nationality in international competitions . FIG.
  7. Web site: Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique . FIG . 2018-07-27. (This page includes a search form that returns results for continental unions, affiliated federations, associated federations, or provisional federations.)
  8. Web site: FIG - About / Population . FIG . 2018-07-05.
  9. Web site: Watanabe elected as president of International Gymnastics Federation . Oct 19, 2016 . Japan Times . 2018-07-05.
  10. Web site: Technical Regulations 2018 . FIG . March 1, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180228161655/http://www.fig-gymnastics.com/publicdir/rules/files/en_Technical%20Regulations%202018%20update%20PK.pdf . February 28, 2018 . dead .
  11. Web site: FIG - RG competitions . 2020-01-24 . https://web.archive.org/web/20001206170300/http://gymnastics.worldsport.com/sports/rg.html . 2000-12-06 . live .
  12. Web site: FIG - Four Continents . 2020-01-24 . https://web.archive.org/web/20001206170300/http://gymnastics.worldsport.com/sports/rg.html . 2000-12-06 . live .
  13. https://web.archive.org/web/20001203233500/http://www.gymnastics.worldsport.com/sports/sports_acro.html FIG - Sports Acrobatics
  14. https://web.archive.org/web/20001011012500/http://gymnastics.worldsport.com/events/jnr_acro_nowaruda/draw.html FIG - 1999 Junior World Championships
  15. http://www.nsv-trampolin.de/images/infos/technical_regulations_2015.pdf FIG 2015 Technical Regulations
  16. https://www.jpn-gym.or.jp/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/GA_OG_Rio_2016_Qualification_System-e.pdf Rio 2016 qualification system
  17. Web site: Why Is There an Age Limit for Gymnasts in the Olympics?. Elliot. Sarah. livestrong.com. 2017-05-30. en-US.