Getxo will host the Congress of the International Tug-of-War Federation next week, which will be attended by 22 delegations from all over the world

● Getxo will be the venue in September 2020 of the outdoor Tug-of-War World Championship. ● This Congress of the International Federation is a prior step in which, among other actions, the technical visits will be made to the facilities that will host the world championship. ● Between 24 and 28 April, the Getxo 2020 World Championship Organization Committee will be visited by the Executive Committee and members of 22 delegations of the International TWIF Federation.

There is just over a year until the next outdoor Tug-of-War World Championship, which will be held in Getxo. The Organization Committee of this world championship has been working months and next week will host the Annual TWIF Congress, the International Tug-of-War Federation,

On Thursday 25 April the meeting of the TWIF Executive Committee (ExCo) will be held; and on Friday and Saturday the Annual Congress, which will be attended by about 60 people, members of 22 delegations arriving from 4 continents. The attendance of representatives is confirmed from Germany, Belgium, Scotland, Wales, Netherlands, England, Ireland, Latvia, Switzerland, Sweden, South Africa, Nigeria, Haiti, USA, China, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan.

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For four days, in addition to working in the organizational aspects of the TWIF, the attendees will make the technical visit to the Fadura facilities, its venue, the offer of accommodation and the main tourism sites of Getxo y Bilbao.

For the Organizational Committee of the Getxo 2020 world championship this will be the first in situ milestone in the organization of this world championship.

TWIF, International Tug-of-War Federation

TWIF stands for Tug of War International Federation, consisting of 72 national federations from the 5 continents, including the Basque Country national Team.

Created in 1960, Getxo 2020 will coincide with the 60th anniversary of the entity.

The TWIF is led by an executive body, currently made up of members from South Africa, USA, Ireland, England and Netherlands.

Euskadi was accepted as a national team under the name of the Basque Country in 2014.

Getxo 2020 World Championship

Getxo, and more specifically the facilities of the Fadura Sports Park, will host the Tug-of-War World Championship in September 2020.

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The event is held on a biannual basis and in previous editions has been held in places like Cape Town, South Africa, in 2018; Malmo, Sweden, 2016; or Madison, USA, in 2014.

The Biscay town won in the final vote in 2015 against candidacies from Switzerland and Holland, receiving 15 of the 19 votes issued by the International Federation of this sports discipline.

This is the world championship of Tug of War in which the International Associations members of the TWIF and clubs of those countries will participate. It is worth highlighting that the TWIF rules state that all the participants must be the amateurs.

The competitions will be developed in different categories, according to modalities and weights, which also include sections by sex and mixed.

The competitive aspect of the world championship is in two parts: the first two days of the championship are a tournament for TWIF clubs, from the 72 countries that form it; and the last two days the competition is between national teams.

Getxo 2020 is organised by Euskadiko Herri Kirol Federakundea / Federación Vasca de Juegos y Deportes Vascos (Basque Federation of Basque Games and Sports); Bizkaiko Euskal Joko eta Kirol Federakundea / Federación Vizcaína de Juegos y Deportes Vascos (Biscay Federation of Basque Games and Sports); and Getxo Herri Kirol Taldea. And it is supported by Getxo City Council, the Bizkaia Provincial Council and the Basque Government.

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It is estimated that between 16 and 20 September 2020 about 1400 participants will come to take part in the outdoor tug-of-war world championship.

This will not be the first time Getxo hosts a championship of these characteristics. In 1991 the Fadura Sports Centre was the scene of the first Tug-of-War World Championship in rubber mode.

This is a challenge at the organizational and strategic level for the promotion and dissemination of tug-of-war as a sport in our environment.

Basque Country National Team

In 2014 TWIF admitted the Basque national team as a full member in the Federation and, therefore, it can participate in the international competitions, under the name of Basque Country. It competed for the first time as a national team in August of that same year, in the Tug-of-War World Championship held in Wisconsin, USA.

In the last World Championship in 2018, in Cape Town, the Basque Country team had great success and returned home with seven medals.

Three medals in the competition for national teams: silver in 560 kilos in the male category, bronze in 500 kilos in the female category and silver achieved in the last day in the men's 720 kilos, the biggest and most competitive competition in the World Championship. And another for in the teams, with two medals for Goiherri and another two for Gaztedi: Goiherri, silver in the 560 kilos category; and bronze in the men's 640 kilos. And Gaztedi, silver for the female team in the category of 540 kilos; and bronze in the 560 kilos, precisely against Goiherri.

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Additional information and links

TWIF, Tug of War International Federation Basque Federation of Basque Games and Sport Bizkaia Federation of Basque Games and Sports Getxo Herri Kirol Taldea

Note:

A photo session will be held on Friday 26 April with those attending, which will be attended by the graphic media

Place and time: athletic track of the Fadura Sports Park, at 5 pm.

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Interviews, materials and information

Amaia Ocerin [email protected]

Tel: 699 90 80 63

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