G20 National Olympic Committees virtual conference opens

The conference of National Olympic Committees (NOC) of the G20 countries will take place in Riyadh on Tuesday with the support of the Saudi Secretariat of the G20 and the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee.

Prince Abdul Aziz bin Turki Al-Faisal will chair the summit-level meeting dubbed “The Olympic movement during and after the COVID-19 pandemic” as part of a program of international conferences held on the sidelines of the Saudi presidency of the G20 this year.

The conference will discuss opportunities and challenges facing the Olympic movement and the global sports sector in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The conference also aims to shed light on the important role that the movement plays in helping the international community to recover socially, economically and healthwise from the pandemic. Leading the keynote speakers at the virtual conference is the

president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, as honorary chair of the conference. Other speakers are IOC board member, Princess Reema bint Bandar Al-Saud; member of the board of directors of the Japanese Olympic Committee, Momii Keiko; president of the Italian Olympic Committee, Giovanni Malago; Dr. Tedros Adhanom, director general of the World Health Organization (WHO); Robin Mitchell, president of the Association of National Olympic Committees; Witold Banka, president of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA); James Macleod, director of Olympic Solidarity and NOC Relations; chairman of the Y20 Youth Engagement Group, Othman Al-Muammar; and vice president of the U20 Urban Community Engagement Group, Hussam Al-Qurashi.

The Saudi Olympic committee invited all National Olympic Committees of the G20 countries, in addition to the NOCs of countries invited for the G20 summit — UAE, Jordan, Spain, Rwanda, Singapore, Switzerland and Vietnam. Representatives from WHO, international federations and continental Olympic committees will also attend.