Alabama to host 2021 World Games

Birmingham, Alabama, will host the 2021 World Games comprising 37 non-Olympic sports.

The 2021 World Games will be hosted by Birmingham, Alabama, the International World Games Association confirmed on Thursday.

The city of just over one million inhabitants beat competition from Lima, Peru and Ufa, Russia to become the second US city to host after Santa Clara, California organised the inaugural edition in 1981.

"It's a great historical significant day for our city, our state and the United States," said Jonathan F. Austin, president of Birmingham city council in Lausanne.

"Thank you for giving us this opportunity. We'll organise the best games you've ever seen."

The budget for the event which brings together 4,500 athletes in 37 sports and 60 disciplines will be $75 million, added Birmingham delegation member Scott Myers.

Officials say no new venues have to be built and the Birmingham region has what it takes to hold a successful World Games, a multi-disciplinary sport event consisting of non-Olympic disciplines.

Some football games during the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta were played in Birmingham's 80,000-seater Legion Field Stadium.

The 2013 edition in Cali, Colombia will be followed by Wroclaw, Poland in 2017 and will include demonstration sports -- kickboxing, American football and wushu.


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Source: AAP


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