Taipei, New Taipei Sign Contract to Host 2025 World Masters Games sports-masters December 12, 2020 Breaking News, Events, Featured, Sports 960 The mayors of Taipei and New Taipei have officially signed a contract to host the 2025 World Masters Games. It is estimated the games will cost about NT$1.6 billion (US$55 million) to host in Taiwan and is expected to generate NT$10 billion (US$354 million) in tourism revenue. In a video conference, Taipei City Mayor Ko Wen-je and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih formalized the agreement with International Masters Games Association (IMGA) President Kai Holm and Secretary-General Jens V. Holm. The mayors said they are determined to promote sports tourism in Taiwan through the event. President Tsai Ing-wen offered congratulations to the twin cities in a pre-recorded video, saying Taiwan will do its best to host the most successful edition of the Games ever. She promised the country will move toward the ideal of “Sports for All” by relying on its past experience hosting international sporting events, including the 2009 Deaflympics in Taipei, 2009 World Games in Kaohsiung, and the 2017 Taipei Summer Universiade. After competing against Paris, France, and Perth, Australia for the rights to host the Games, Taipei and New Taipei came out on top in October. Holm, who has visited the two cities in person, is said to have voiced his support in the assessment committee for their right to host the event. The Taipei City Department of Sports said the World Masters Games are scheduled for May 17-30, 2025, and will feature 32 sports. Close to 40,000 athletes from 110 countries are expected to attend, a potential tourism boom for Taiwan. The World Masters Games, launched in 1985 in Toronto, are usually held the year after the Olympics. The last edition of the games was in Auckland, New Zealand in 2017, while the next one will be hosted in Japan’s Kansai region in 2022, one year after originally scheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
