12th Indian Ocean Islands Games (IOIG) – The Comoros 2027 |21 February 2024

The 12th IOIG will take place in the Comoros in 2027(Photo: Patrick Joubert)

17 proposed disciplines for 12th quadrennial regional Games

• Beach and water sports not included

For the 12th Indian Ocean Islands Games scheduled to take place in the Comoros in 2027, 17 sporting disciplines have been proposed, and once again, as it was the case at the last Games in Madagascar last year, beach and water sports do not feature on the list.

Another disappointment for Seychelles as the decision reduces our chances of earning extra medals as Seychellois athletes are a notch higher than those of other countries in the region in sports disciplines that do not feature on the list, especially watersports.

The 17 proposed disciplines for the 12th Indian Ocean Islands Games (IOIG) are: football, athletics (track and field), badminton, basketball, boxing, cycling, weightlifting, handball, judo, karate, wrestling, swimming, petanque, taekwondo, tennis, table tennis, and volleyball.

The decision for the Comoros to host the 12th Games was taken last year during the meeting of the Games International Committee (CIJ) held in Antananarivo, Madagascar where Maldives were assigned the 2031 Games.

During the meeting, the bidding countries – the Comoros, Maldives, and Mayotte – did not have the right to vote, and the Comoros was chosen unanimously by Seychelles, Mauritius, Reunion, and Madagascar.

The Comoros previously made a bid to host the Games but was not successful due to lack of adequate infrastructure.

It was CIJ former president and president of the Seychelles Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association (Socga) Antonio Gopal who handed over the Games’ flag to Comorian Sports Minister Djaffar Salim Alaoui at the end of the 11th IOIG in Madagascar in 2023.

The Games were created by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1979 and currently gather the island nations and territories of Mauritius, Seychelles, Comoros, Madagascar, Mayotte, Réunion and the Maldives.

Its objectives are 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; and create a regional event whose repercussions will ensure the development of infrastructure of countries in the area.

Host countries of the IOIG since its inception in 1979

1st 1979 – Reunion            

2nd 1985 – Mauritius         

3rd 1990 – Madagascar    

4th 1993 – Seychelles       

5th 1998 – Reunion                            

6th 2003 – Mauritius          

7th 2007 – Madagascar    

8th 2011 –Seychelles        

9th 2015 – Reunion            

10th 2019 – Mauritius        

11th 2023 – Madagascar  

12th 2027 – The Comoros

Compiled by Roland Duval