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About us

Spirit of Sports - Spirit of Unity

Who are we?

We are an international multi-sports organisation, founded 1913 in Ghent/Belgium and based on the historic ideas of the international labour movement. Nowadays our main activities are organizing international Sport for All events - open for amateur sportspeople of all ages, genders and origins.
But our events are much more than justs sports. They are festivals of friendship, cultural exchange, tolerance, respect, sustainability & fair play. We are proud to welcome CSIT members, non-member organisations, partners, governmental bodies, trade unions and all kind of businesses.

Within the world of international sport, the CSIT maintains its support for everyone to benefit from sporting activities regardless of their qualifications, talent, nationality, age, sex and social circumstances.

CSIT in the international world of sports

Numerous Olympic and Paralympic participants have their roots in CSIT member federations! More than 200 million individual members and sportspeople worldwide, over 50 member federations in more than 40 countries all around the world and 35 partner organizations. The CSIT has become a huge global player in amateur sports since its foundation more than 100 years ago in Belgium. Every two years, the CSIT World Sports Games are held with a variety of summer sports. With several thousand participants, the CSIT World Games are among the largest amateur sporting events. They are also the base and haven for many current and former Olympic athletes who have made it to Olympic medal honors. Here is just a small excerpt from a long and successful list which will be adapted continuously.

History

In it's earliest form, CSIT was founded on 10th May 1913 in Ghent, Belgium on the basis of the historic labour movement. Even then CSIT's highest values were equality and solidarity in sports. During and after the World Wars CSIT was reestablished two times on the 14th September 1920 in Luzern, Switzerland and on 30th May 1946 in Brussels, Belgium with the name Comité Sportif International du Travail.

Since 1973 CSIT is member of GAISF (Global Association of International Sports Federations ) and has been recognized by the IOC on October 31st, 1986 as you can read in the following. To read the whole official letter please click here (PDF).

ioc-recognition

In the early 2010s CSIT reoriented itself and aimed for some fundamental changes. In 2011 the Congress in Rio de Janeiro decided to open the CSIT to all amateur sportspeople. Simultaneously, the naming of the association has been extended to International Workers and Amateurs in Sports Confederation / Confédération Sportive Internationale Travailliste et Amateur.

2013 marked the 100th Anniversary of CSIT which was greatly celebrated in the founding city Ghent as well as in Brussels. The extraordinary Festschrift-Book in honour of 100 years of CSIT by Editor CSIT Honor. President Prof. Kalevi Olin under the presidency of Harald Bauer can be downloaded for free in English and French!
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Members from Africa, America, Asia & Europe

During the last decade the CSIT has grown rapidly to a global organisation with 50 national member unions from 38 countries, one continental member union and approx. 230 million individual memberships today.

International Co-operation

The CSIT works in good co-operation with the IOC (International Olympic Committee), GAISF & SportAccord (United Sports Federations), ICSSPE (International Council of Sport and Physical Education), EFPM (European Fair Play Movement), ISCA (International Sport and Culture Association), WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency), TAFISA (The Association for International Sport for All), FICEP (Fédération Internationale Catholique Education Physique et Sportive), AISTS (International Academy of Sport Science and Technology), IWG (International Working Group on Women and Sport), FICS (The International Federation of Sports Chiropractic), P.I. (Panathlon International) and ENGSO (European Non-Governmental Sports Organisation). All Partners of CSIT you can find here!

Objective

The obligations of the CSIT are becoming increasingly important in these terms, when commercialisation and the lack of facilities and economic resources are reducing sports to passive entertainment for the vast majority of people.

We are an organisation which aims at promoting and broadening amateurs' & workers' sport activities and thus develop into a world-wide movement. All these activities will support our aspirations for democracy, solidarity and improving the quality of life through sport. This movement should encompass all sports federations and hence will be able to provide better opportunities for varied physical exercise for all citizens.

We stand for promotion of tolerance, respect, fair play, friendship, intercultural dialog and integration through sport. A 'zero tolerance' - Policy towards discrimination, violence, fanatic behavior and racism is pursued accurately.

The Spirit of CSIT

The main highlight of the CSIT are the CSIT World Sports Games (WSG), an unique major sports event for a couple of thousands of amateurs. Every two years for one week we are living the Spirit of CSIT.

Furthermore, we are organizing single events all around the world: