Basque Pelota expands its limits searching the Olympic dream
JM González
May 9, 2024

The International Federation of Basque Pelota (FIPV) continues to expand its limits in the world with the incorporation of a new continent to its ranks. A few days ago the creation of the Asian Confederation of the discipline was announced, which will include the participation of Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Nepal, Singapore, South Korea and Bangladesh.

What the International Federation seeks is to establish itself within world Olympicism and hopefully the sport will be part of the Olympic Games in future editions. At the beginning of May, in fact, the work commitment between the Federation and the International Olympic Committee was ratified. “For our institution it is very important that the highest entity in world sport accompanies us for another year in the development of Basque pelota in the world” they published on their official channels. “The FIPV and the IOC have been working year after year on the growth of Basque pelota with a view to becoming an Olympic Sport,” they added.

The announced countries are not the only ones that will enter. At the moment, work is also being done to ensure that the next confederations to join are those of Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bhutan, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Oman. As indicated by the FIPV, it will be a comprehensive job. In fact, the first week of June a delegation from the Federation will travel to India to train coaches in the modalities of Frontball and Rubber 30 meters.

 

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DOUBTS WITH THE WORLD CUP IN ARGENTINA

The FIPV and the Government of the Province of San Luis, Argentina, continue in talks seeking to make the 2026 World Cup effective on Argentine soil. This, due to the statements of the Secretary of Sports of the aforementioned province where they declined to take charge of the organization of the planetary event, a venue that had been assigned to them in November 2022.

The changes in administration after the last elections in Argentina changed the plans and on April 25 they announced that they would not organize the tournament. Given this, the International Federation urgently called a meeting of its Executive Committee, setting time to work on a solution with a deadline of September 25 before opening space for new applications.

And one of the first measures for this type of conciliation was the meeting held by authorities from the FIPV and the Province of San Luis, where, according to what the Federation published, they had a great reception from the Argentine representatives. This first meeting was online, so they announced the trip of a delegation of pelotaris to talk in person and look for solutions to hold the largest event in the world of Basque pelota.

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