This is an update for the unicycling community on the current status of the proposed Unicon 2020 location in Brixen, Italy. As of September 1, 2018, the location for Unicon 2020 is still not finalized. The board is providing this update in order to increase the transparency of its internal actions.
At the IUF meeting at Unicon19 in Ansan, South Korea, the board members present—Jim Sowers, Ken Looi, Emile Mathieu, and Jenni Rinker—announced the IUF had originally received several bids but at present had only one viable bid for a Unicon 2020 location. This bid was made for Brixen/Bressanone, in Italy.
Over the years, the number of disciplines and competitions that constitute Unicon has grown substantially. Likewise, the demands on the hosts have also increased. As we have learned from mistakes and shortcoming in past Unicons, and given the importance of insuring a quality event that is a “world championship”, the IUF has formalized the requirements for hosting a Unicon. The IUF also has put in place a requirement that it is able to provide input to the event and that the hosts will be accountable to the IUF. The objective of this requirement is to ensure that Unicon does, in fact, meet the quality expectations of the participants.
Because we have added these requirements, the process for negotiating and finalizing an understanding between the hosts and IUF is moving more slowly than it has in the past. There is a cost to trying to raise the standard.
The IUF board has met weekly since Unicon19 and is working diligently to finalize an agreement with the proposed hosts that will ensure the quality of Unicon 2020. It is our hope that these discussions will be resolved quickly, but we cannot give an exact timeline as to when a final decision will be in place. We will post further updates on the status of Unicon 2020 as it develops.
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