IWF meets with the UNHCR on the Refugee Team programme

Florian Sperl, IWF Executive Board member and coordinator of the IWF Refugee Team project, was yesterday at the headquarters of UNHCR – the UN Refugee Agency in Geneva (Switzerland), where he had the opportunity to discuss our International Federation’s programme with representatives of the UN body in charge of this topic. 

As a reminder, the first IWF Refugee Team was launched in 2023, and some of its athletes could participate in the IWF World Championships organised that year in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia). In 2024, the project continued and two athletes from the team successfully took part in the Paris Olympic Games. Moreover, four of them also competed at the recent IWF World Championships, held last December in Manama (Bahrain).

From left to right: Nick Sore (UNHCR), Francesca Bonelli (UNHCR), Florian Sperl (IWF) and Stephen Reynard (UNHCR)

Given the success of the project, and to give additional stability to the programme, the IWF decided to open applications for a new Refugee Team for the period 2025-2028, thus covering the entire Olympic cycle until the Los Angeles 2028 Games.

The IWF Refugee Team will be composed of two male and two female lifters, to be chosen by the IWF Refugee Working Group. Two additional athletes (one from each gender) can be included in the group, provided they are IOC Refugee Scholarship holders. To be eligible for the Team, athletes must be officially recognised as refugees in the country they reside, in accordance with the UNHCR protocols. The deadline for candidates’ applications is February 16, 2025. 

Ramiro Mora, IWF Refugee Team

“We had a very friendly and positive meeting! I presented our project to the UNHCR representatives and they were quite happy about the way we are supporting these lifters. It perfectly matches their own objectives and their actions around the world, where millions of people are experiencing challenging experiences as refugees,” considered Mr Sperl after the meeting.

The IWF EB member met with Ms Francesca Bonelli (Head, Partnership and Coordination Service – Division of External Relations), Mr Nick Sore (Senior Refugee Sport Coordinator), and Mr Stephen Reynard (Sport Project Coordination Officer), and also discussed further ways of reinforcing the programme.

Aline de Souza, IWF Refugee Team

Ms. Bonelli shared her thoughts following the meeting: “We appreciate the International Weightlifting Federation’s (IWF) support for refugees. We look forward to celebrating the successes of the IWF Refugee Team and to exploring further opportunities to improve the wellbeing and opportunities for people forced to flee through the sport of weightlifting.”

Mr. Sperl concluded: “Another future possibility is to actively co-operate with the UNHCR to provide weightlifting equipment to refugee camps or to reinforce the structures already in place. As sport plays an important role in the integration of refugees into their new life environment, we can certainly offer some support in this area.”

IWF Communications