Indian Ocean Island Games

Indian Ocean Island Games

Official Logo of the IOIG in 2015
First event 1979 Indian Ocean Island Games
Occur every 4 years (expected)
Last event 2015 Indian Ocean Island Games
Purpose Multi-sport event for islands in the Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean Island Games (French: Jeux des îles de l'océan Indien) is a multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from Indian Ocean islands. The Games was adopted by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1976 and currently gather the islands of Mauritius, Seychelles, Comoros, Madagascar, Mayotte, Réunion and the Maldives. The number of athletes who participate has increased over the years, it went from 1000 athletes in 1979 to over 1500 participants in 2003 and 2007.

Origins

From 1947 until 1963, a precursor called Indian Ocean Games Triangulaire was organized between Madagascar, Mauritius and Réunion. In Madagascar 1963, a football match between Mauritius vs Madagascar was abandoned at 1-1 in 54'. Then Madagascar declared winners of tournament. After this match Mauritius refused to play and the tournament was not held anymore.

In 1974, the Regional Olympic Committee of Réunion decide to organise a multi-sport competition in the Indian Ocean and it was finally adopted by the IOC in 1976. The competition was initially billed as the Indian Ocean Games. However, its name was changed to the Indian Ocean Island Games before the first games, without the participation of Sri Lanka, initially in the bill.

The objectives of the games is to contribute to regional cooperation through the development of sport in the region, build friendship and mutual understanding between the peoples of the islands of the Indian Ocean, in the spirit of Olympism. Allow athletes to have every four years, a competition whose interest and level are commensurate with the real sport of the region, create a regional event whose repercussions will ensure the infrastructure development of countries in the area that lags far behind.

IOIG Editions

Five countries participated in the creation of the Games. They are Sri Lanka, Seychelles, Mauritius, Comoros and Reunion. They drafted the Charter of the Games. Originally, the Games were to take place every four years, however this frequency was not observed from 1979 to 2003.

Year Edition Date Host
1979 I Réunion Saint Denis, Réunion
1985 II Mauritius Curepipe, Mauritius
1990 III Madagascar Antananarivo, Madagascar
1993 IV Seychelles Victoria, Seychelles
1998 V Réunion Saint Denis, Réunion
2003 VI Mauritius Moka, Mauritius
2007 VII 9 to 19 August Madagascar Antananarivo, Madagascar
2011 VIII 5 to 14 August Seychelles Victoria, Seychelles
2015 IX 1 to 8 August Réunion Saint Denis, Réunion
2019 X July-August Mauritius Port Louis, Mauritius

Participating countries

Réunion 1979 Mauritius 1985 Madagascar 1990 Seychelles 1993 Réunion 1998 Mauritius 2003 Madagascar 2007 Seychelles 2011 Réunion 2015 Total
Comoros✓✓✓✓✓✓✓✓✗8
Madagascar✗✓ ✓✓✓✓✓✓✓8
Maldives✓✓✓✓✓✓✓✓✓9
Mauritius✓✓✓✓✓✓✓✓✓9
Mayotte✗✗✗✗✗✓✓✓✓4
Réunion✓✓✓✓✓✓✓✓9
Seychelles✓ ✓ ✓ ✓✓✓✓✓✓9

Different competitions

See also

References

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