Indian Ocean Island Games

Indian Ocean Island Games

Official Logo of the IOIG in 2011
First event	1979 Indian Ocean Island Games
Occur every	Every 4 years (expected)
Last event	2011 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 never stopped growing. 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 has never been observed for various reasons.

• 1979 – Réunion
• 1985 – Mauritius
• 1990 – Madagascar
• 1993 – Seychelles
• 1998 – Réunion

• 2003 – Mauritius
• 2007 – Madagascar
• 2011 – Seychelles
• 2015 – Réunion

Participating Countries

	1979	1985	1990	1993	1998	2003	2007	2011	Total
Comoros	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	8
Madagascar	✗	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	7
Maldives	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	8
Mauritius	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	8
Mayotte	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗	✓	✓	✓	3
Réunion	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓		✓	✓	8
Seychelles	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	8

• In 2003, Mayotte participated together with Réunion as France Indian Ocean.

Different competitions

• Athletics ()
• Badminton ()
• Basketball ()
• Boxing ()
• Cycling ()
• Football ()
• Handball ()
• Judo ()
• Karate ()

• Pétanque
• Rugby union ()
• Sailing ()
• Swimming ()
• Table tennis ()
• Taekwondo ()
• Tennis ()
• Volleyball ()
• Weightlifting ()
• Wrestling ()

See also

• Indian Ocean Games Triangulaire
• Football at the Indian Ocean Island Games

External links

• Official website of the 7th IOIG.
• Official website of the 8th IOIG.