The largest solidarity travel plan ever implemented by the International Military Sports Council (CISM), the “Travel Plan” for the 5th Military World Games, which will take place in July in Rio de Janeiro, includes 295 athletes from 49 benefiting countries.
The largest solidarity travel plan ever implemented by the International Military Sports Council (CISM), the “Travel Plan” for the 5th Military World Games, which will take place in July in Rio de Janeiro, includes 295 athletes from 49 benefiting countries. Another 205 individuals from 29 countries will also be able to compete in Brazil thanks to this support.
The travel plan unites the efforts of CISM, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Brazil, and three other countries: the United States, Canada, and Italy.
“We are gathering all available means with a view to reaching 110 countries registered for the Games. We are still working to achieve that mark. We help countries in difficulties to increase their delegation, thereby helping high-level athletes not to lose the opportunity to compete,” affirmed Lt. Col. Pedro Gagliardi, a CISM deputy sports director.
Brazil has made available two Air Force planes with 140 seats each, which will land in four African cities – Bamako (Mali), Yaoundé (Cameroon), Nairobi (Kenya), and Johannesburg (South Africa) – where passengers from several countries will be gathered. “For the first time in history, a country is supporting a continent on this scale and with this level of involvement,” the lieutenant colonel added, referring to Brazil’s action in Africa.
Italy and the United States are also cooperating with seats on their military planes. The Italians have made available forty seats for Eastern and Southwestern European countries, while the Americans will support delegations from North America and the Caribbean. Canada has made available 50,000 Canadian dollars to help in buying plane tickets, while CISM has made available 70,000 euros, and the IOC has made available 30,000 dollars.
“Our preliminary data indicate that 30 countries are participating in the 5th Military World Games exclusively due to this action of solidarity. Another 19 are receiving support to transport part of their respective delegations,” Lt. Col. Pedro Gagliardi explained, noting that this information is subject to change.
The Solidarity Travel Plan has the goal of reaching the mark of 110 countries that participated in the Rio 2011 Games. The soccer teams from Kenya and Cameroon, for example, will travel to compete in Rio de Janeiro thanks to this support. The same is true of the Romanian aeronautical pentathlon team, already confirmed on the Italian plane.
Number of confirmed countries in the Travel Plan (as of May 30th)
On the Brazilian planes: 24 countries
On the Italian plane: 10 countries
CISM and IOC resources: Africa – 2 countries, Asia – 4 countries, Europe – 9 countries
Total countries supported by the Travel Plan
Confirmed: 49
To be confirmed: 29
Approximate total personnel supported by the Travel Plan
Confirmed: 295
To be confirmed: 205 (172 on the U.S. plane)