SportAccord has announced on its website the full programme and speaker line-up for the IF Forum 2025, which will bring together more than 400 leaders from International Federations at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne from 27 to 29 October. Under the theme The New Global Reality in Sport: IFs in a world that refuses to stand still, the three-day event will explore the key challenges of governance, sustainability and innovation shaping the global sports landscape.
The forum will feature keynote speeches, thematic panels and interactive sessions addressing issues such as commercialisation in a fragmented world, the evolution of women’s sport and strategies for maintaining the relevance of International Federations year-round.
SportAccord President, Prof. Dr. Uğur Erdener, highlighted the event’s significance as a space for collective reflection: “The IF Forum represents a key moment for International Federation leaders to come together and address shared challenges at a time of unprecedented change.” He added: “The panels we have curated bring together speakers from a wide variety of backgrounds, and we are confident this will help International Federations work together to shape a bright future for sport.”
Key themes: leadership, sustainability and innovation
Among the highlights is a keynote address by Professor Simon Chadwick, a leading academic and consultant in sports business, who will examine sport’s role in an age of global disruption. His session will focus on the capacity of the sports movement to demonstrate resilience, unity and purpose amid constant transformation.
Sessions on innovation, leadership and sustainability will also bring together experts from multiple disciplines. The panel on commercialisation and leadership in the Age of Fragmentation will include Petra Sörling (International Table Tennis Federation), Max Cobb (International Biathlon Union), François Vergnol (International Equestrian Federation), Rob Rauch (World Flying Disc Federation) and Giles Morgan (Howden Group Holdings), who will discuss new business models and approaches to digital engagement.
Women’s sport and audience engagement under the spotlight
A dedicated block will focus on the growth and sustainability of women’s sport, featuring triple Olympic swimming medallist Pernille Blume, Fabio Azevedo (International Volleyball Federation), Filip Suman (International Floorball Federation), Lombe Mwambwa (Global Observatory for Gender Equality in Sport) and Midori Miyazaki (ISPS Handa). The session will explore how increased visibility can be transformed into long-term investment and impact.
Another panel will address how International Federations can sustain engagement beyond major event cycles. Speakers will include Jiao Li (International Skating Union), Richard Pettit (International Canoe Federation), Kit McConnell (Brisbane 2032) and Jonny Murch (RedTorch), sharing insights on maintaining audience connection across diverse sports contexts.
The IF Forum 2025 will act as a key platform for dialogue and knowledge exchange among leaders of the international sports community. The discussions and outcomes from Lausanne will also help lay the groundwork for the upcoming SportAccord Convention 2026, to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, strengthening collaboration and institutional development across the global sports ecosystem.
