Balloon World Cup: Is it possible that it will become an Olympic sport as suggested by Ibai Llanos?

The International Olympic Committee welcomed the victory of Peru in the World Balloons, which generated the immediate reaction of Ibai Llanos on their social networks. The event he created with Gerard Piqué continues to go around the world, with the Peruvian Francesco de la Cruz as one of its protagonists for the title achieved.

During the transmission of the event, the Spanish Olympic Committee greeted the event and the representative of his country, which led to a comment on whether the Balloon World Cup could become an Olympic event.

Both Gerard Piqué and Ibai Llanos repeated the idea several times. This was reinforced this Friday when the International Olympic Committee, through its Twitter account @ Olympic Games greeted Francesco de la Cruz for his title.

“Is the game of the Olympic sport balloons?” Ibai Llanos responded immediately, referring to whether this new game can become consolidated.

OLYMPIC?

Is it possible that he will become an Olympian in the short term? Since, according to the IOC, for a sport to be recognized as Olympic it must meet several requirements and still not be included in the Olympic Program.

“”, Says Patrick Espejo, journalist specializing in Olympic Games, author of the book Olímpica, where he gives an account of the entire history of this event.

That saying. Currently the IOC recognizes 206 countries, so the Balloon Game must be played in at least 103 for it to be recognized.

At present, squash has not yet managed to be recognized as an Olympic sport, while only recently Muay Thai and eSports were recognized, which does not mean that they are within the Olympic Program.

Karate entered the program and was part of Tokyo 2020, but it will not be in Paris 2024. While surfing, which also debuted in the Japanese event, will remain at least one more cycle.

Requirements

• Presence in 75 countries and 4 continents in the male case or in 40 countries and 3 continents in the female case.
• The IOC must vote to declare a sport Olympic and even introduce it among the so-called permanent sports

WORK TO DO

Consolidating a sport as such is a long task, which starts from the creation of clubs, leagues and federations, all complying with the current legislation of each country and under the rules of the World Anti-Doping Association.

In the event that Peru wants to have representatives in an eventual Olympic competition, clubs must be created to compete in duly accredited leagues. A National Sports Federation must be founded that complies with the Sports Law and is recognized by the Peruvian Institute of Sports and the International Olympic Committee. At the same time, there must be an International Federation that groups together the different National Federations.

“To be recognized by a NOC [Comité Olímpico Nacional] and accepted as a component thereof, a national sports federation must exercise a specific, real and durable sports activity, be affiliated with an IF (International Federation) recognized by the IOC, be governed by and abide by all the provisions of the Olympic Charter and of its FI ”, reads Chapter 26 of the Olympic Charter.

“They must have an active IF, with annual competitions and with at least half of the countries in the area that meet the requirement of having a National Federation,” adds Patrick Espejo.

In other words, the road is long for a sport to become Olympic. It is not about the intentions of some and others, if not the fulfillment of a series of requirements.