Olympic Sochi to Host the World’s Leading Sports Journalists
From the 15th-18th of April, Sochi will host the 76th Congress of the International Sports Press Association (AIPS). In total, 340 participants from leading international and Russian sports media from over 100 countries will meet in Sochi for the event.
The most prominent sports journalists from the biggest international and Russian newspapers, news and photo agencies and television channels such as France Press, Eurosport, Yahoo, ITAR-TASS, Interfax, RIA Novosti, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Sport-Express, Sovietsky Sport, Channel One, NTV and Getty Images will attend AIPS. Representatives from the IOC, ROC, FIFA and other international and Russian sports federations will also be in attendance.
Sochi 2014 preparations will be in the highlight of the agenda during this year’s event. Attendees will be shown a presentation about the forthcoming Olympics and also be given tours of the Olympic venues in the Coastal and Mountain clusters.
In addition, AIPS will host a forum on the Future of Sports Journalism and will elect new members to the Executive Committee of the International Sports Press Association.
Traditionally the host country of the forthcoming Olympics holds the Congress for the world’s sports media about one year before the Games. A similar event took place in Moscow in 1979 before the 1980 Olympic Games.
Dmitry Chernyshenko, the President and CEO of the Sochi 2014 Organization Committee, said:
"It is a great honor for us to host such a prominent event as the Congress for sports journalists. Just a few years ago it would have been hard to imagine Sochi being the focus of attention for sports reporters from all over the world. That’s exactly what happens today, and as the organizers we are extremely proud to show the guests our readiness to host the Games".
Nikolai Dolgopolov, vice-president of the International Sports Press Association, president of the Federation of Sports Journalists of Russia, said:
"With the 2014 Olympic Games less than a year away, the international sports press is showing more interest than ever. AIPS is a fantastic opportunity for leading sports journalists to get a glimpse of the preparations taking place and visit all the sports venues".