By David Gold at the Sport Accord Convention in Québec City.

May 20 - Wroclaw has officially signed an agreement to host the World Games in 2017 here on the eve of the Sport Accord Convention.

Ron Froehlich, the President of the International World Games Association (IGWA), and Rafal Dutkiewicz, the mayor of Wroclaw, signed the agreement here at the Québec City Convention Centre.

The city in the west of Poland will stage the 10th edition of the event, for those sports which are not part of the Olympic Movement, including squash, tug of war and sumo wrestling.

The World Games gives them a platform from which to demonstrate that they should be added to the Olympic programme.

Cali in Colombia is hosting the next edition of the Games in 2013, which will be the last time rugby sevens is a part of the competition.

Rugby sevens is joining the Olympic programme from Rio 2016, but Wroclaw will get to choose five sports to add to those already part of the World Games.

Froehlich emphasised the enthusiasm of the host city as a key factor in the decision to award them the Games ahead of Budapest in Hungary.

"We are happy to present our sports in Wroclaw in the summer of 2017, and we are sure that we will be offered optimal conditions for our sportsmen and women there," he said.

"Wroclaw is a beautiful city - I was amazed how picturesque it is and how organised.

"They have built new roads and a new stadium.

"This stadium is Wroclaw is the most modern, unbelievable stadium I have seen in a long time and we can be very happy that everything will be in such a beautiful city.

"The city welcomes you with open arms and we are looking forward to bringing the athletes, officials, sports and supporters to this city.

"All the bids we received were of a very high quality, and it was not easy for us to select the best out of all."

The signing of today's agreement came on the eve of the IWGA executive committee meeting at Sport Accord.

"It is going to be not only the biggest and largest sporting event in the history of Wroclaw, but of Poland," said Dutkiewicz.

"The organisers plan to celebrate the 10th edition of the World Games in style, marking the return of the Games to Europe."

The World Games were last held in Europe in 2005, in Duisburg, Germany.

Wroclaw, which has 630,000 residents, is one of the host cities of this year's football European Championships, which Poland co-hosts with Ukraine.

It is also the European capital of culture for 2016.

Wroclaw was awarded the World Games in January, but still had to negotiate and agree contractual details which meant it was not until today that the news that they were hosting the Games could be confirmed.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]

Related stories

January 2012: Wroclaw awarded 2017 World Games