WOA welcomes new member associations

29 | 5 | 2023

The WOA General Assembly has voted in 12 new National Olympians Associations to join the existing 96 members. The new member associations are based in: Algeria, Benin, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Czech Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Lesotho, Mauritius, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone and Venezuela.

The new members were aided by the WOA Development Officers to ensure that they satisfied the WOA membership criteria prior to the vote. The new dozen can now apply for the annual WOA Development Grant and the Service to Society/Service to Olympians grants as well as take advantage of the other benefits offered by WOA.

They can also attend the upcoming WOA World Olympians Forum taking place in Istanbul in September along with the other WOA member associations, members of the IOC Athletes’ Commission, IOC staff and Olympic stakeholders.

WOA President Joel Bouzou said: “I’m delighted to see the WOA family grow. The fact that we had 12 successful applications this year, along with a few others who have yet to meet the full membership criteria, just shows that Olympians understand the benefit of forming a National Olympians Association for themselves, their fellow Olympians and the communities that they serve based on the values of the Olympic Movement.”