Is MMA a sport you want to see or believe should be in the Olympic Games? If so, then meet the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation (IMMAF). Founded in 2012, IMMAF has been striving for mixed martial arts to be recognised as a sport and ultimately become an Olympic sport.
For its positive growth, IMMAF is focused on developing MMA as an international sport, from the recreational level to the elite, driving the development of a common sets of rules, safety regulations, structure, progression pathways and mutual exchange. Becoming recognised as an Olympic sport is critical for the safeguarding of MMA’s participants worldwide to minimise risk and to increase opportunities and benefits.
In numbers, IMMAF has 120 National Federations as members, with more than 50 recognised by their National Olympic Committee or National Sports Authority. More than 2000 athletes have participated in its Junior and Senior tournaments and the organisation has accredited more than 525 coaches. MMA is the world’s fastest growing sport with an estimated 449 million followers worldwide of the professional sport, while IMMAF is increasing audience numbers year-on-year for its amateur proposition, with its official OTT platform IMMAF.TV (launched in 2018) attracting more than 300,000 viewers during its recent 2021 World Championships.
“UFC is the outstanding, world leading brand in professional MMA. IMMAF wants to be the equivalent in the amateur space – with gold standard regulation, governance, competition, and athlete development programmes”, said CEO Densign White.
THE HIGHEST STANDARDS IN GOOD GOVERNANCE
Since its foundation, IMMAF has been committed to the highest international standards in good governance. “The Federation is an Early Adopter of the Sport Integrity Global Alliance Standards, through which IMMAF submits to independent auditing by SIGA against integrity, good governance and financial integrity standards. IMMAF is a democratic organisation based on the foundation of open, honest and collaborative practices. This applies to everything from elections and governance to everyday tasks and discourse”, said Kerrith Brown, IMMAF President.
Want to learn more? Check out the IMMAF website www.immaf.org
SIGA’s member corner is a space provided by SIGA for its’ members to showcase their activities. This content was produced by IMMAF.
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ABOUT SIGA
SIGA is the world´s largest coalition in the field of sport´s governance and integrity. Supported by more than 100 international multi-industry supporters, SIGA is an independent and neutral organisation whose mission is to bring about meaningful reforms and enhance the integrity of all sports through a set of universal standards operated by an independent and neutral body. SIGA is the only organisation to bring together sport, governments, academia, international organisations, sponsors, business, rights holders, NGOs and professional services companies, from every region in the world, around a common cause of fostering greater integrity throughout sport.
Click on the hyperlinks for the list of SIGA Members and Committed Supporters and SIGA Partners.
For more information on SIGA, including its vision, mission and reform agenda, please refer to the website: www.siga-sport.com.
To contact SIGA, please email: [email protected].