Taipei City Government

On December 10, Mayor Ko Wen-je and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih attended the signing ceremony at Songshan Cultural and Creative Park to finalize the municipalities’ hosting of the 2025 World Masters Games.
 
The International Master Games Association (IMGA) announced on October 23 the awarding of the hosting right of the 11^th edition of the game in 2025 to Taipei and New Taipei. The press conference featured the contract signing involving the leaders of both municipalities, as well as the president and the CEO of IMGA over video call.
 
During his address, Ko remarked that the World Masters Games have taken place every 4 years since 1985. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the latest edition slated for 2021 in Japan’s Kansai region has been postponed for another year. However, the 11^th edition will take place in Asia, with Taipei and New Taipei cohosting the event.
 
The mayor expressed his gratitude to IMGA for choosing Taipei and New Taipei, as well as to the various sports-related government agencies and associations who provided invaluable assistance during the process. Their efforts allowed the municipalities to emerge as host among major contenders such as Paris and Perth. The 2025 World Masters Games is expected to last between 2 to 3 weeks and include 32 competition categories. The games are expected to attract 15,000 athletes, ages 30 or above, from 110 nations around the world.
 
Ko noted that one of the long-term objectives of Taipei is to build a sports city. In recent years, Taipei has devoted much resources into hosting both local and international competitions, as well as nurturing potential sports talents. For example, it invested significant budget into building a practice circuit for road cycling races and overhauling the baseball stadium in Tianmu. The upcoming World Masters Games will be another global competition taking place here, after the successful 2009 Deaflympics and the 2017 Universiade.
 
Mayor Hou pointed out that the World Masters Games is an opportunity for boosting the international profile of Taipei and New Taipei as a sports metropolis. He also expressed his gratitude to the Ministry of Education and the Sports Administration for their contributions. He explained that for a major tournament like the World Masters Games to be successful, it will require everyone to work hand-in-hand. He believes that such exchange is a great opportunity for diplomacy, since sports not only make you healthy and happy, you can also interact with each other in a friendly manner emphasizing sportsmanship. In the future, Taipei and New Taipei will work together to bring out the best of its cultural and arts heritage, to allow visitors and athletes to better know the host cities.