Bach to Meet Pope at Faith and Sport -- Conferences and Conventions

(ATR) The inaugural global conference on faith and sport begins Oct. 5 in Vatican City.

The Sport at the Service of Humanity conference will bring together famous athletes and religious leaders as well as civil authorities to examine ways that both faith and sport communities can better society.

Pope Francis will begin the conference while International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach and United Nations secretary general Ban Ki-Moon will deliver keynote speeches. Other IOC members will join Bach at the conference.

"The first global conference on faith and sport will be the perfect opportunity to reflect how sport and its values can support social change, community development and the promotion of peace and human rights along with faith principles across all religions," Bach said.

The IOC signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Vatican in 2015 to begin planning the conference in conjunction with the UN. President Bach met with Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi at IOC headquarters on April 18 to discuss preparations for the inaugural conference.

Bach is also reportedly scheduled to meet with Italian Olympic Committee president Giovanni Malago during his stay at the Vatican. The Rome city council voted down the Rome 2024 Olympic bid on Thursday but the bid city is still weighing all of its options before terminating its campaign.

Commonwealth Games Opens Doors to External Partners

For the first time the Commonwealth Games Federation will be re-shaping their Annual General Assembly in Edmonton, Canada by adding a Sports Summit that will take place on Oct. 6.

The Summit which would originally be exclusive to the 17 countries and territories that make up their membership is now open to the general public.

The idea emerged through the federation's strategic plan Transformation 2020.

The new arrangement was constructed to "reallytransform the organization from just being focused on games and turn it into a movement that would be relevant every day and really perpetuate the vision of the organization and all that we do" Chief ExecutiveDavid Grevemberg tells Around the Rings.

Through the transformation the federation's vision was converted into focusing onpeace, sustainability and prosperity and transforming the lives of citizens and their communities through the power of sport.

The Summit will be held on the final day of the CGF’s AGA with the theme "It’s Within Us".

The intensive one-day conference features keynote speakers, workshops and panel discussions.

Panel discussions will include topics such asindigenous reconciliation, human rights, gender equality and equity issues,governance standards and youth development.

Grevemberg says he hopes the summit will provide answers to questions including how to protect and promote human rights through major sporting events and through the movement and how to create a compelling argument in this uncertain world that hosting sporting events has value and is worth the investment.

"We're looking to really have some provocative/courageous discussion and hopefully derive some insight on actions that are potentially available at our fingertips" Grevemberg states.

"We are trying to encourage people to buy into the notion that sport is a vehicle to drive peace, sustainability and prosperity."

Confirmed speakers at the summit thus far include Paralympic swimmer Carla Qualtrough, secretary general of the Commonwealth Secretariat Patricia Scotland and Chief of the Six Nations of the Grand River Ava Hill.

The CGF general assembly runs from Oct. 3-6.

Olympin Collectors Memorabilia Show Comes to Atlanta

The 35th annual Olympin Collectors’ Memorabilia Show will begin at the Omni Hotel Oct. 7 in downtown Atlanta.

The gathering marks the first major pin event since the Rio 2016 Olympics and Paralympics concluded and organizers expect a diverse group of attendees from around the world.

Registration for the event closes on Oct. 1.

The show will also pay tribute to the 20th anniversary of the Atlanta 1996 Summer Games. Pin trading has been a popular hobby in Atlanta since those Games with traders meeting at the Atlanta Varsity once a month.

The first night of the show will feature a banquet dinner and will be preceded by a silent auction sponsored by RR Auctions, a leader in auctioning rare Olympic artifacts.

The pin show will conclude on Oct. 9.

SPORTEL Awards Ceremony in October

The sports marketing and media business convention SPORTEL will be hosting the annual SPORTEL awards in October.

During the ceremony the best international sports videos and illustrated books will be rewarded.

A jury of Olympic icons and personalities of the sports and media industries will present the Golden Podium prize - an original piece created by French painter Raymond Moretti - along with the Sports Book prize.

Jury Members will include Olympic Boxing Champion Estelle Mossely and Paralympic Champion Richard Whitehead.

The awards ceremony will be held at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco on Oct. 25.

Panelists Announced for Host City 2016

The largest meeting of cities and sports, business and cultural events will be taking place in Glasgow this year.

The conference will commence with the keynote address by President of the World Anti-Doping Agency Sir Craig Reedie.

CEO of the Commonwealth Games Federation - David Grevemberg - will bereturning to the event to discuss "Transformations in Multi-City andMulti-Sports Events".

Various speakers of Host City 2016 plan to examine how to build sportsand entertainment brands, investment strategies and more.

IOC Vice President Ugur Erdener, FIFA Council Member Michel D’Hooghe,Vice President and General Manager of O2 John Langford, and other cityleaders are all expected to speak at the event.

The Host City conference will take place on Nov. 21-22.

Conference Schedule

Sport at the Service of Humanity: Oct 5-7

Commonwealth Sports Summit: Oct 6

Smart Cities & Sport Summit: Oct. 12-14

Africa Women and Sport Conference: Oct: 14-15

International Consensus Conference on Concussion in Sport: Oct. 27-28

World Rugby Conference and Exhibition: Nov. 14-15

Host City 2016: Nov. 21-22

World Sports Tourism Summit: Nov. 22-23

Peace and Sport International Forum: Nov. 23-25

FINA World Aquatics Convention: Dec. 3-5