On Thursday, the respective General Assemblies of both organisations approved a landmark step for national sport: starting next year, the two bodies will come together under a single structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Belgium thus becomes the sixth country in the world, after the Netherlands, the United States, Norway, Saudi Arabia and South Africa, in which the National Olympic Committee and the National Paralympic Committee merge into one organisation.\u00a0In doing so from 1 January 2027 onward, the country hopes to underline its role as a trailblazer within the international Olympic and Paralympic Movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the statement, the merger is “the logical continuation of a partnership that has steadily grown stronger in recent years”. Joint training camps, a shared brand identity, and the\u00a0successful campaigns of the Paris 2024 and Milano Cortina 2026 Summer and Winter Games\u00a0had already shaped the notion that there is only one Team Belgium, now made official.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By bringing the two organisations together, COPB aims to strengthen support for all elite athletes, pool expertise, and further embed a high-performance culture across Belgium. Jean-Michel Saive, president of COIB, said the decision means they are writing “a new chapter in the history of Belgian sport”. It reflects, he added, the conviction that this collaboration “makes us stronger and allows us to push our limits together”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The move builds on a relationship that is already deeply rooted. As far back as 1960, former COIB president Victor Boin played a pivotal role in the creation of what would later become the BPC. The link between the two bodies is woven into their shared history, and has only tightened in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Our ambition to promote inclusion through the magic of sport is now taking on a new dimension. With this merger, we want to set an example for sports federations and for society at large”,\u00a0added Ellen Van Camp, head of the BPC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the past year,\u00a0significant work has been carried out to map the objectives, needs and practical implications of such a merger. Athletes were closely involved throughout the process and are regarded as one of the driving forces behind the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
COPB intends to give fresh momentum to Team Belgium and Team Belgium Paralympic, while also strengthening the social impact of Belgian sport. Implementation is expected to be gradual, with the ambition of further developing and aligning elite programmes, partner offerings and the brand architecture of both organisations. The decision marks an important step in a long-term process aimed at full integration at every level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The BPC’s merger into COIB encompasses all Paralympic components, including ties to the national and international Paralympic movement. The role of national para-sport federation, previously held by the BPC, will now be assumed by the Belgian Para-Sport Federation, which will continue to work in collaboration with G-sport Vlaanderen<\/em> and the Ligue Handisport Francophone<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On Thursday, the respective General Assemblies of both organisations approved a landmark step for national sport: starting next year, the two bodies will come together under a single structure. Belgium thus becomes the sixth country in the world, after the Netherlands, the United States, Norway, Saudi Arabia and South Africa, in which the National Olympic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12903],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-415682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-12903"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=415682"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415682\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":415683,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415682\/revisions\/415683"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=415682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=415682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/6gnx6dd.cc\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=415682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}