Events
What's Happening
ICTSG organizes and participates in championships, cultural celebrations, intergovernmental summits, and community festivals worldwide.
Upcoming
August
2026
Annual
International Day of Traditional Sports and Games -TSG Day 2026
📍 Global
The annual global celebration of TSG Day, coordinated by ICTSG across all continental offices. Events include community competitions, exhibitions, virtual summits, and the annual Global Declaration renewal.
2026
2026
Championship
African Traditional Sports and Games Championship -Namibia 2026
📍 Namibia
The inaugural African Traditional Sports and Games Championship, hosted by Namibia and organized by ATSGC in coordination with ICTSG. The first continental TSG championship in history.
Ongoing
2026
Media
ICTSG 2025-2026 Traditional Sports and Games Podcast Series
📍 Digital / Global
ICTSG is accepting requests for its podcast series featuring traditional sports practitioners, cultural heritage experts, and policy advocates from around the world.
Past Events
Completed
TSG Day 2025 -Historic Global Declaration Adopted
📍 Global (HQ: Florida, USA)
ICTSG led the largest ever TSG Day celebration, culminating in the unanimous adoption of the TSGDAY 2025 Global Declaration. Over 50 National Chapters activated. Women's Committee formed. SRETS Framework launched.
2025
PartnershipWorld Indigenous Games 2025 -Brazil
📍 Brazil
ICTSG co-hosted a side event at UNOCT New York previewing the World Indigenous Games 2025, focusing on Article 31 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Completed
UN Summit of the Future -New York 2024
📍 UN Headquarters, New York
ICTSG participated in the 79th UN General Assembly's Summit of the Future. President Khalil Ahmed Khan met with UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay to advance global TSG preservation commitments.
March 2025
PartnershipUNOCT 'Securing the Legacy' -Paris 2024 Debriefing
📍 UN Headquarters, New York
ICTSG participated in UNOCT's 5th anniversary of the Global Sports Programme, presenting on Indigenous Games and previewing the World Indigenous Games 2025 in Brazil.
Completed
9th African Wrestling Tournament -Dakar 2021
📍 Dakar, Senegal
ICTSG attended and documented the 9th African Wrestling Tournament in Dakar, supporting ECOWAS and West African governments in preserving traditional wrestling culture across the region. Competitors from Senegal, Mali, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gambia, and Mauritania participated.
2021
CompletedLahori Gurmela Traditional Festival 2021
📍 Lahore, Pakistan
ICTSG documented the Lahori Gurmela (Spring Festival), one of South Asia's oldest traditional games fairs, featuring Kabaddi, wrestling, and dozens of indigenous games of the Punjab region. The festival draws hundreds of thousands of participants annually.
2021
CompletedMalik Atta Festival of Traditional Games 2021
📍 Pakistan
Documentation of traditional games at the Malik Atta Festival, capturing indigenous sports and games practices from rural Pakistan for inclusion in the ICTSG Online Encyclopedia.
Completed
TSG Delegation -Korea Visit 2019
📍 Republic of Korea
An ICTSG delegation visited the Republic of Korea to explore traditional games cooperation, documenting Ssireum (Korean wrestling), Neolttwigi, and other Korean traditional sports. The visit established frameworks for bilateral cultural heritage exchange.
Completed
TSG Seminar -Islamabad 2019
📍 Islamabad, Pakistan
ICTSG convened a regional TSG seminar in Islamabad bringing together representatives from across South and Central Asia to discuss documentation standards, heritage preservation policy, and the upcoming Lahori Gurmela festival.
May 27
CompletedSICA Ministerial Meeting -2019
📍 Guatemala City, Guatemala
President of ICTSG Mr. Khalil Ahmed Khan addressed the SICA Council of Ministers Meeting 2019 through a video message. The meeting, hosted in Guatemala under the auspices of CECC/SICA and chaired by Minister Elder Suchite of Guatemala, was attended by Cultural Ministers of eight Central American countries: Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama and the Dominican Republic. Mr. Khan invited the Central American countries to join the UNESCO TSG Group of Friends by signing the Letter of Commitment. He also nominated Mr. Luis Bruzon Delgado, Culture Coordinator of SICA, as the Regional Coordinator of traditional sports in Central America. Following the meeting, the Governments of Guatemala and Belize signed the Letter of Commitment and joined the UNESCO TSG Group of Friends.
Completed
World Ministerial Virtual Conference on TSG 2021
📍 Virtual (Global)
Over 600 participants from 90 countries including Ministers of Sports, Culture, Tourism and Youth attended the World Ministerial Virtual Conference on Traditional Sports and Games, organized by ICTSG on International TSG Day. Key speakers: Khalil Ahmed Khan, Joël Bouzou, UNESCO ADG Gabriela Ramos (via Philipp Müller-Wirth), CIGEPS President Rosa Rakotozafy.
Completed
Mongolia -Naadam Festival Documentation 2020
📍 Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
ICTSG documented the Naadam Festival -the Three Games of Men (Mongolian wrestling Bokh, horse racing, and archery). Naadam is inscribed as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. Mongolia has signed an MOU with ICTSG for ongoing collaboration.
Partnership
ICTSG MOU with Mongolia
📍 Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
ICTSG delegation visited Mongolia 14–21 November 2019. A MoU was signed with the Government of Mongolia for future cooperation on traditional sports. President Khan presented an official souvenir to Vice Minister Ganbayar Ganbold of the Sports Ministry.
Partnership
ICTSG MOU with North Macedonia
📍 North Macedonia (Electronic)
Electronic MoU signed between ICTSG President Khalil Ahmed Khan and H.E. Hysni Ismaili, Minister of Culture, North Macedonia, committing both parties to exchange of information, joint research, and promotion of traditional sports for 3 years.
Governance
UNESCO Advisory Committee -Technical Meeting
📍 International
ICTSG represented TSG communities at the UNESCO Advisory Committee technical meeting on intangible cultural heritage, advancing ICTSG's policy positions on cultural sport documentation standards and heritage status frameworks.
2016
Historic4th UNESCO Collective Consultation on TSG
📍 International
The 4th UNESCO Collective Consultation on Traditional Sports and Games, a milestone in the development of international policy frameworks for TSG preservation. ICTSG played a central role in advancing the consultation's outcome recommendations.
Historic
2nd UNESCO Collective Consultation on TSG -Tehran 2009
📍 Tehran, Iran
Organized by UNESCO and Iran's Physical Education Organization, this consultation established the Advisory Committee framework. Khalil Ahmed Khan named Secretary-General of the nascent ICTSG. The Tehran Consultation laid the foundations for the current global TSG governance architecture.
Partnership
UNESCO TSG Delegation Visit to Kazakhstan -LOI Signing
📍 Astana (Nur-Sultan), Kazakhstan
ICTSG delegation (Chairman Khalil Ahmed Khan, Coordinator Marcellin Dally, Rapporteur Shammi K. Rana) visited Kazakhstan on invitation of Minister Arystanbek Mukhameduily. A tripartite Letter of Intent was signed between the Ministry of Culture and Sports of Kazakhstan, the Association of National Sports of Kazakhstan, and the UNESCO Advisory Committee on TSG, for hosting the First World Traditional Sports and Games in Nur-Sultan (2021).
March 18
PartnershipSport Organisations Conference 2019 -Abu Dhabi
📍 Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
ICTSG participated in the Sport Organisations Conference 2019 held in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The conference brought together international sports organizations to discuss cooperation frameworks, policy alignment, and the promotion of sports as tools for sustainable development and cultural heritage preservation.
December 2018
GovernanceUNESCO TSG Expert Meeting -Ashgabat 2018
📍 Ashgabat, Turkmenistan
UNESCO and the Government of Turkmenistan organized an international expert meeting on traditional sports alongside the Silk Road, held during the first week of December 2018 in Ashgabat. Chairman Khalil Ahmed Khan chaired the meeting and addressed participants on the importance of TSG. He reviewed the history of the TSG project from MINEPS III (1999) through all four Collective Consultations, noting that participants at the 4th Consultation in Istanbul had unanimously approved 10 Traditional Sports including Belt Wrestling and agreed to publish an Encyclopaedia on TSG at the Silk Road. The meeting was organized with the support of President Gurbanguly Berdimohammedow of Turkmenistan and brought together ministers, ambassadors, experts, and professors from across the region.
August 2018
Historic4th UNESCO Collective Consultation on TSG -Istanbul 2018
📍 Istanbul, Turkey
The landmark 4th UNESCO Collective Consultation on Traditional Sports and Games, held in Istanbul at the sidelines of the Erzurum Traditional Sports Festival. Over 82 participants from 40 countries including Ministers, experts, and international organizations formally endorsed the establishment of ICTSG and approved its statutes. The Consultation also considered Kazakhstan's bid to host the First World Traditional Sports and Games.
August 12
CompletedErzurum Traditional Sports Festival 2018
📍 Erzurum, Turkey
Organized by the Ministry of Sports of the Republic of Turkey and the Erzurum municipality on the sidelines of the 4th UNESCO Collective Consultation. The festival showcased Turkish traditional sports alongside TSG from across the UNESCO network, marking a milestone for the integration of traditional sport into global policy discussions.
2017
Historic3rd UNESCO Collective Consultation on TSG -Paris 2017
📍 UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, France
The 3rd Collective Consultation on the Safeguarding and Promotion of Traditional Sports and Games, held at UNESCO Headquarters. The Consultation formally created the Ad hoc Advisory Committee on TSG, elected its Chairman (Khalil Ahmed Khan), and established four Working Groups. ICTSG as an institution was formally approved and its statutes developed.
Governance
UNESCO Advisory Committee Technical Meeting -2017
📍 International
The first Technical Meeting of the UNESCO Advisory Committee on TSG, which established the TSG Group of Friends - a network of UNESCO Permanent Delegations from Member States committed to advancing TSG policy. Letters were sent to Member States inviting them to sign the Letter of Commitment.
June 29
CompletedKazakhstan Traditional Sports Championship 2019
📍 Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan organized a championship on traditional sports, demonstrating its leadership in Central Asian traditional sports governance and its commitment to preserving indigenous sports as part of Kazakhstan's cultural heritage. The championship featured multiple Kazakh traditional disciplines including Tenge Ilu and Audaryspak.
2006
Historic1st UNESCO Collective Consultation on TSG -Paris 2006
📍 UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, France
UNESCO organized the inaugural Collective Consultation Meeting on traditional sports and games at its Paris headquarters. The meeting was attended by international organizations on traditional sports and other stakeholders, laying the foundation for the global TSG governance framework. Khalil Ahmed Khan participated as a key organizer.
November 2006
Historic2nd World Green Sports Festival -Almaty 2006
📍 Almaty, Kazakhstan
The Second World Green Sports Festival was held in Almaty, Kazakhstan, under the auspices of UNESCO and the International Association of Traditional Wrestling Sports (IATWS). The festival brought together traditional sports communities from across Eurasia to celebrate indigenous games in an environmentally sustainable format.
2008
Historic3rd World Green Sports Festival 2008
📍 International
The Third World Green Sports Festival continued the tradition established in Almaty, promoting traditional sports as environmentally sustainable alternatives to resource-intensive modern sports infrastructure.
Completed
TSG Day 2022 -Inaugural International Day Declaration
📍 Global
The first formal global declaration of August 14 as the International Day of Traditional Sports and Games, marking a major milestone in ICTSG's advocacy. The day was endorsed by Pakistan President Arif Alvi and European Commissioner Mariya Gabriel, with national chapters worldwide hosting celebrations.
Completed
First African TSG Photo Contest 2023
📍 Pan-African (Online)
Inaugural photo contest organized by UATSG in partnership with UNESCO's Abuja and Nairobi offices, the African Union, and UNOCT. Photographers across Africa submitted images capturing traditional sports and games in their cultural context; the winner was announced on International TSG Day, August 14, 2023.
Completed
Sierra Leone 1st Regional Workshop on African TSG
📍 Freetown, Sierra Leone
The first regional workshop to develop and validate a framework for the standardization and documentation of African Traditional Sports and Games, hosted by UATSG and the Government of Sierra Leone at The View Hotel, Freetown. The event brought together TSG practitioners, policymakers, and cultural authorities from across the continent.
Completed
Mongolia Junior Archery Competition 2023
📍 Khentii Province, Mongolia
The first junior traditional Mongolian archery competition, organized by the Mongolian Traditional Archery Federation. Over 700 children aged 8–16 from 22 soums (districts) of Khentii Province participated, trained in traditional whistling-arrow archery techniques passed down through generations. The event reinforced Mongolia's commitment to intergenerational TSG transmission under the ICTSG-Mongolia MOU.
Completed
ICTSG Delegation Visit to United Arab Emirates
📍 United Arab Emirates
An official ICTSG delegation met UAE sport and cultural authorities to discuss cooperation on Falconry and Camel Racing — two of the Arabian Peninsula's most significant traditional sports — and to explore the establishment of a regional TSG forum for the Arab World.
Completed
Ministerial Webinar on TSG in Africa
📍 Online (Pan-African)
A high-level ministerial webinar co-organized by UATSG and ICTSG, bringing together African Ministers of Sport and Culture to discuss frameworks for safeguarding and promoting traditional sports across the continent, ahead of the 9th African Wrestling Tournament and WMVC 2021.
Historic
4th World Green Sports Festival -Tashkent 2009
📍 Sports Complex Uzbekistan, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
UNESCO-backed festival hosted by the Government of Uzbekistan including the 8th Belt Wrestling World Championships, 1st Belbogli Kurash World Championships, a UNESCO Conference on Traditional Sports, and a 'Play for Peace' seminar. The event was presided over by the President of Uzbekistan and drew participants from across Central Asia and beyond.
Historic
5th World Green Sports Festival -Islamabad 2011
📍 Islamabad, Pakistan
A blend of international sports championships and scientific conferences held in Islamabad under UNESCO and IATWS auspices. The festival included a 'Play for Peace' training camp for war-affected countries, a Fun Run, and tree-plantation drive — co-supported by the South Korean Ministry of Sports and Culture. Hosted at the Sarena Hotel and Sports Complex Islamabad.