HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco officially opens new UIPM Headquarters

HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco, the Honorary President of the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM), has officially opened the federation’s new Headquarters.

UIPM’s staff team recently moved into a more spacious office area within Stade Louis II in the Fontvieille ward of Monaco, which has been the organisation’s base since 1997.

UIPM President Dr Klaus Schormann and Vice President Joël Bouzou, OLY greeted HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco in person and provided a socially-distanced tour of the new Headquarters, which has been renovated and decorated to represent the colours of UIPM.

HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco had the opportunity to talk to UIPM staff at their desks – he also signed a plexiglass wall and enjoyed a laser shooting experience during his visit, which concluded with a conference with President Dr Schormann and Secretary General Shiny Fang.

President Dr Schormann said: “It was a great honour to be here in Monaco to officially welcome HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco, UIPM Honorary President and IOC Member, to the new Headquarters of UIPM – 23 years after I welcomed him to the opening of our first official UIPM Headquarters in Monaco on July 11,1997.

“We are grateful to HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco and the Palace of Monaco for their continued support of our sporting movement. With this move to a new Headquarters we have demonstrated our commitment to the Principality while upgrading to an office more suited to a rapidly growing International Federation of Olympic sport.

“UIPM was formed in 1948 in Sandhurst (GBR) during the London Olympics with the responsibility to govern Modern Pentathlon. Today the Union has more than 120 member federations and oversees a global sporting pyramid comprising a wide range of multi-sports.”

During the conference with President Dr Schormann and Secretary General Fang, the UIPM Honorary President was provided with a range of updates including UIPM’s structure (National Federations and Headquarters); governance; UIPM 2021 Congress; 2020-21 financial situation, UIPM Sports and innovations; Olympic Summer Games Tokyo 2020 (postpone to 2021) and Olympic Summer Games Paris 2024.

At the end of the meeting, on behalf of the UIPM administration, Secretary General Fang expressed her gratitude and appreciation to the Monaco Government for their “tireless support for a lot of areas of UIPM HQ needs”.

She also thanked the UIPM Honorary President for his role in bringing UIPM’s wishes to reality, adding: “This new UIPM Headquarters provides us with a lot of more space and opportunity for the organization to grow, it is encouraging and motivating!

“Seeing the timeline of the UIPM pathway, it is no surprise that UIPM is climbing and catching up thanks to its non-stop innovation and improvements.”

HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco stated at the end of the conference: “I have witnessed all the improvements that UIPM has implemented over the years.

“UIPM is certainly one of the most active IFs, dedicated to reshaping the sport for future generations and working to find ways to achieve sustainable development at all levels from grassroots to elite, as we can see from the UIPM sports pyramid.

“I am happy to see the new format that will be adopted for Paris 2024 – this is another big step for the sport to be modernised and become more media-friendly and audience-friendly.”

The IOC Programme Commission has made recommendations about the composition of the Paris 2024 sporting programme and the IOC Executive Board will meet to decide the final programme on Monday (December 7).

UIPM has proposed a new Modern Pentathlon format, including a 90-minute showpiece event comprising all five disciplines and an elimination system, for introduction at the 2024 Games.