The IF Sports Forum brought together members of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF), the Association of International Olympic Winter Sports Federations (AIOWF) and the General Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF).

ASOIF Director Andrew Ryan said: 'The objective of the Forum was to provide a knowledge exchange platform, which is of specific value to the IFs - A Forum for the IFs, by the IFs, and this has been achieved. ASOIF is very pleased with the success of the first IF Sports Forum and has been happy to have so many federations attending and to receive such a good feedback. We will definitely plan with our colleagues to repeat the Forum and make it a regular event.'

The IF Sports Forum was held with the collaboration of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and IOC President Dr Jacques Rogge underlined the spirit of cooperation and information-sharing in his opening remarks. The sessions featured informative IF-targeted presentations by key Olympic executives Pere Miro (Director Olympic Solidarity), Tomas Sithole (Director of International Cooperation and Development), and Timo Lumme (Director Television and Marketing Services) together with a variety of speakers from the federation side.

The IF Sports Forum was organised by ASOIF and AIOWF in conjunction with SportAccord, the international sport convention owned by ASOIF, AIOWF and GAISF. The Official Partners of the IF Sports Forum were Eurovision, IEC in Sports, Meteksan Events, PA Sport and WCSN.

The programme of the first IF Sports Forum, aimed to meet the needs of the Olympic Federations specifically, featured two main streams: Sport Development and Marketing & Media. Participants gathered in workshops to explore issues and case studies presenting the best practice from the industry. At the end of the workshops, IF rapporteurs wrapped up the highlights and conclusions from the sessions for all the delegates - a format which drew high praise as the rapporteurs - including several IF presidents and general secretaries - rose to the task enthusiastically.