07 Dec. 2016 – It is official, Muay Thai and Cheerleading have made their way into the Olympic movement. The two International Federations received provisional recognition from the IOC executive board.
This doesn’t mean that the two sports will be at the Olympic Games but they have a chance of making it one day. It is a long journey that should at least start somewhere.
They were among 16 sports bodies which applied for IOC recognition earlier this year, and they join 35 other sports on the list of recognized federations.
Cheerleading and Muay Thai will now be eligible for other development programs and access to content of the IOC’s digital Olympic Channel as well as a 25,000$ yearly fund from the IOC.
The two federations were given provisional recognition for a period of up to three years. During that time, the IOC executive board can recommend full recognition, another necessary step in the drawn-out path toward joining the Olympic program.
The cheerleading federation has over 100 national federations and around 4.5 million registered competitors while Muay Thai has 135 national federations and nearly 400,000 registered athletes.
In Lebanon, Muay Thai is becoming a popular sport and we would be more than happy to see it a part of the Olympic Sports.
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