05. Januar 2018  
Lausanne, SUI  
Artistic Gymnastics

FIG president Watanabe announces far-reaching changes!

The Japanese Morinari WATANABE (58), President of the International Gymnastics Federation (F.I.G.), who has been elected in Tokyo since October 2016, announced to the turn of the New Year far-reaching changes in an open letter for the next few years, and means " ...more "INNOVATION" in the sense of decisive innovations and changes in organizational processes and competition formats, new marketing, new rules, newer education and ethics", and he spoke from "new innovative gymnastics and gymnastics communities, worldwide...".
The first step should be done in May 2018 at the FIG Council. Decisions will be expected at the next FIG Congress in December 2018.

Morinari WATANABE, (FIG)

* 05-Jan-2018
  Open Letter of FIG-President
  Morinari Watanabe (JPN)
       I N N O V A T I O N ! The 2018 Slogan!

"Happy New Year !
I hope this new year will bring good luck and happiness to the Gymnastics family all over the world.
The FIG was founded in 1881 and established itself, through its long history, as an illustrious international sporting federation. We must keep on developing Gymnastics so that the sport retains its luster in the eyes of the next generation too.
To achieve this, there is something we must keep in mind. We must know that "there is no success in the future by simply extending the past".
The evolution of technology has drastically changed people's ways of thinking, their values and their behavior. 
If we just keep following the precedent of successful experiences from the past, we will not be able to achieve success in the future. We need innovation!

New organizational operations, new competition formats, new marketing, new rules, new education and new ethics. In all aspects, just renewing something is no way to deal with the changing times. Now, we need innovation in Gymnastics.
Our slogan in 2017 was "Challenge", and the Gymnastics family in each country as well as at the FIG responded with commitment to this challenge. This spirit of "Challenge" spread across the worldwide Gymnastics community.
Now, I would like to take the next step by setting "INNOVATION" as the slogan for 2018. Our target is to create a new Gymnastics community, starting from 2021.
We at the FIG will propose the future vision of this new Gymnastics community at the next Council meeting in May this year.
After that, we will discuss the proposal among the Gymnastics family around the world, hearing the views of all, before the Congress meeting to be held in December.
We will then take our decision on the creation of this new and innovative Gymnastics community during that December Congress meeting.
From there, 2019 will be a year of preparation, which will ensure that the new Gymnastics community will be ready to start from the moment the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games reach an end.
The FIG is for the Gymnastics Family and by the Gymnastics Family.
Let's create a new world together!"

Morinari Watanabe
FIG-President
(c) Source: f i g press release