The 2023 World Beach Games, officially known as the 2023 ANOC World Beach Games and colloquially as Bali 2023, would have been the second edition of the
World Beach Games, an international
beach
A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc sh ...
and
water
Water (chemical formula ) is an Inorganic compound, inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living ...
multi-sport event
A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports among organized teams of athletes from (mostly) nation-states. The first major, modern, multi-sport event of interna ...
organized by the
Association of National Olympic Committees
The Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) is an international organization that affiliates the current 206 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Each year it gathers all its membe ...
(ANOC). Originally scheduled for 2021, the event was postponed until 2023 due to the effects of the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
, and subsequently cancelled less than one month before it was due to start.
Aquathlon, beach handball, kata, beach soccer, beach tennis, beach volleyball, beach water polo, beach wrestling, kite foil and open water swimming were to be the "core sports" of the Games, while another four sports were to have been added to the programme, totalling 14.
Bali, Indonesia was awarded hosting rights on 10 June 2022; the Games were planned to take place from 5 to 12 August 2023.
One month before the start, the ANOC announced that the Games would be cancelled because the Indonesian Olympic Committee (KOI) had withdrawn from its commitment to host 2023 ANOC World Beach Games as the funding had not been released by the
Government of Indonesia. There was not enough time to award the games to another host.
[
]
Host selection
Following the Games' postponement to 2023, the bidding process began in August 2021, and ended with the announcement of the hosts in June 2022.
;Official bids
*:
Indonesia officially became the strongest candidate to host the Games, following an announcement made at the General Assembly of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) in Crete
Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...
, Greece, which was held on 24–25 October 2021. However, doubts remained as Indonesia's national anti-doping body was subject to a ban by the World Anti-Doping Agency
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA; french: Agence mondiale antidopage, AMA) is a foundation initiated by the International Olympic Committee based in Canada to promote, coordinate, and monitor the fight against drugs in sports. The agency's key ...
(WADA), preventing it from being awarded hosting rights to any international multisport event.[ The ban was subsequently lifted by WADA in February 2022. Ultimately, with the ban expired and Indonesia the only official bid put forward, it was unanimously chosen to be hosts in June 2022.] The host city contract was signed in October 2022.
;Expressed interest
*:
The Hong Kong Olympic Committee considered making a bid to host this edition of the Games as early as 2016 after two failed attempts to bid for the hosting rights of the Asian Games, believing that hosting the beach sports competition to be more financially feasible than the continental games. Sites considered for the venue if Hong Kong was to win the bid included Repulse Bay
Repulse Bay or Tsin Shui Wan is a bay in the southern part of Hong Kong Island, located in the Southern District, Hong Kong. It is one of the most expensive residential areas in the world.
Geography
Repulse Bay is located in the southern ...
, Stanley
Stanley may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Film and television
* ''Stanley'' (1972 film), an American horror film
* ''Stanley'' (1984 film), an Australian comedy
* ''Stanley'' (1999 film), an animated short
* ''Stanley'' (1956 TV series) ...
, Southern district, Lantau Island
Lantau Island (also Lantao Island, Lan Tao) is the largest island in Hong Kong, located West of Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula, and is part of the New Territories. Administratively, most of Lantau Island is part of the Islands ...
and Big Wave Bay.
* Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
:
In 2019, California Ultimate considered submission for a bid for this edition of the Games in partnership with the Los Angeles Organization of Ultimate Teams.
The Games
Sports
The 2023 World Beach Games would have featured 14 disciplines in 14 sports; the programme was finalised in August 2022. All of the events would have been non-Olympic, i.e., not featured in the current programme for the Summer Olympics, and gender equal.
On 5 October 2022, it was announced that kitefoil racing would be replaced by wingfoil racing, owing to a review of weather conditions in Bali making a successful competition of the former unlikely.
After consulting with the Executive Board of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC), it was decided that 3x3 Basketball would not feature at the games. Bali 2023 faced issues regarding several venues and tried to find solutions to ensure sports programs would remain part of the ANOC World Beach Games Bali 2023. The Local Organizing Committee (LOC), in this case the Indonesia ANOC World Beach Games Organizing Committee, also tried to find an alternative venue for 3x3 basketball because the operator wanted to charge a rental price that was too high for the location that had previously been confirmed to be for the sport. Due to budget and time constraints, ANOC regretfully accepted the LOC's decision and request.
# Badminton
#*
# Football
#*
# Handball
#*
# Karate
#*
# Rowing
#*
# Sailing
#*
# Surfing
#*
# Swimming
#*
# Tennis
#*
# Triathlon
#*
# Volleyball
#*
# Water polo
#*
# Wrestling
#*
''Numbers in parentheses indicate the number of medal events contested in each separate discipline.''
Participating National Olympic Committees (NOCs)
It was expected a similar number of NOCs, around 100, would participate as in the previous event. After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. ...
, the International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...
(IOC) recommended all Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials be barred from participating at Olympic-affiliated Games.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:World Beach Games 2023
2023 in multi-sport events
2023
Events
Predicted and scheduled events
* January 1
** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law.
** Croatia will adopt the eu ...
Cancelled multi-sport events
International sports competitions hosted by Indonesia
Multi-sport events in Indonesia
2023 in Indonesian sport
Sport in Bali
August 2023 sports events in Asia
21st century in Bali
Sports events postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic