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ITSGC

International Traditional Sports and Games Committee

The International Traditional Sports and Games Committee (ITSGC) held its inaugural Constitutional General Assembly on January 25, 2026, marking a historic milestone in the governance of traditional sports worldwide. The assembly brought together 50 delegates representing 27 countries across five continents, including 17 national federations, 8 national organizations, 9 individual members, 7 international federations, 2 clubs, and 1 regional federation.

The meeting successfully established the ITSGC as a competitive governing body for traditional sports and games, complementing the cultural focus of existing organizations. Key outcomes included approval of the organizational structure, confirmation of leadership, strategic partnership with the Alliance of Independent Members of Sport (AIMS), and establishment of a pathway toward International Olympic Committee (IOC) recognition.

The International Traditional Sports and Games Committee (ITSGC) is the global governing body dedicated to giving traditional sports a true competitive home on the international stage. Working in close cooperation with cultural organizations and with the International Sport for All Federation, ITSGC brings together national and international federations, small sport communities and emerging disciplines under one inclusive umbrella.

ITSGC organizes competitions and championships, supports the creation of international commissions for sports that lack their own federations, and coordinates research and rule harmonization to make traditional games playable worldwide while respecting their roots. By aggregating members from many countries and sharing a single WADA-compliant anti-doping plan, ITSGC is building a common pathway towards recognition by the International Olympic Committee and greater visibility for traditional sports in the global sport movement.

Who We Are

Logo

The ITSGC logo is designed as an inclusive “mosaic” of traditional games, where each element represents a family of disciplines such as slingshot, crossbow, palet, bocce, ruzzola and road games. By combining these shapes into a single dynamic symbol, the logo shows how many different local traditions can live together under one international home while keeping their own identity.

ITSGC offers four main membership types to include both broad organizations and very specific traditional disciplines.

1. National Multi-sport Federations
National federations that govern several traditional sports and games at country level (for example FIGEST in Italy).

2. National Federations
National federations responsible for one specific traditional sport or game (for example the national federation of Palla Tamburello, or a national slingshot or palet federation).

3. International Federations (International Members)
Existing international sport federations that already govern a traditional sport worldwide (for example the World Tug of War Federation), which keep their autonomy while joining the ITSGC family.

4. International Commissions (for sports without a federation)
Structures created inside ITSGC to act as a de facto international federation for smaller or emerging traditional sports that do not yet have their own world body (for example Palet/Palais).