World Orienteering and Trail Orienteering Championships (WOC-WTOC) move closer. 2014 IOF Congress to take place during the Worlds.

In less than two weeks - from 5 to 12 July – Italy is making the official debut in the list of nations that hosted the World Orienteering and Trail Orienteering Championships (WOC-WTOC). Over 2.500 orienteers will be gathering in Trentino and Veneto regions, in the North-eastern part of the country, and ‘we are honored to be the house of the major world event concerning the discipline, Trentino and Veneto are the main areas in which orienteering successfully developed being practiced for years already’, as FISO (Italian Orienteering Federation) President Mauro Gazzerro pointed out during the presentation in Venice last week.
As a whole, thousands of people from 54 nations will gather in Italy soon, 500 athletes will battle it out for world medals and the XXVII IOF congress is also to take place in Lavarone during the week, fitting into the busy schedule made of races and trainings.
Since the IOF (International Orienteering Federation) was founded in 1961, the IOF Congress and General Assembly have been held every two years with some exceptions and extraordinary assemblies throughout the years.
The Ordinary GA in Italy is scheduled on Thursday 10 July, while a Pre-General Assembly will take place the day before. During the GA, IOF counsellors and board plus nations’ representatives will analyse and debate what happened since the last GA held in Lausanne (SUI) two years ago and take into consideration future perspectives. Beside the GA, delegates and all the IOF commission members (Foot-O, Ski-O, MTBO, Trail-O, Map, IT, Rules, Environment, Medical) will be involved in workshops, meetings and seminars during the whole week. On Friday 11 July, more meetings are scheduled in which EU federations, Non-EU federations and federations of the Mediterranean area will gather separately. A Developing Seminar is also scheduled with new countries expected to seat at the IOF table. ‘The Congress represents a great chance to draw more attention to the Orienteering world – claimed IOF counsellor Maria Silvia Viti – as in a few days in Italy there will be a huge number of athletes, trainers and nations’ representatives, all invited to take part in our meetings.’
On Thursday 10 July (5pm) a conference named ‘Technology in Orienteering’ will take place at the Astoria Hotel in Lavarone.