As reported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports (ŠMSM), the chairman of the council was appointed as the Deputy Minister of Education, Science and Sports, and the deputy is the mayor of the municipality where the games will be held.
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Deputy ministers from seven other ministries, representatives from the Presidential Office, the Seimas and Government Chanceries, the Association of Lithuanian Municipalities, the Lithuanian National Olympic Committee, and Lithuanian Radio and Television were included in the council.
Representatives of Lithuanian organizations abroad – the World Lithuanian Community, the World Lithuanian Youth Union, diaspora sports associations from Ireland, Australia, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Norway, and North America – were also included.
As noted by ŠMSM, until now, a temporary working group was formed by the Prime Minister’s order for organizing each games.
“The establishment of a permanent council aims to increase the efficiency of event coordination by excluding representatives of institutions whose direct activities are little related to the event, while ensuring continuous representation of the most important state institutions and the diaspora,” the ministry stated.
It did not propose including representatives of the National Sports Agency, the Lithuanian Sports Center, the Lithuanian Sports Museum in the council, and also rejected “organizations minimally related to the games,” such as the Lithuanian Sports Society “Žalgiris” and the public institution “Travel in Lithuania.”
“Representatives of these institutions and organizations may be invited to participate in council meetings and contribute to the organization of the World Lithuanian Sports Games as needed,” ŠMSM stated.
BNS wrote that the functions of the World Lithuanian Sports Games Council include, among other things, preparing the games’ regulations, making proposals regarding their date and location, and preparing the event program.
The World Lithuanian Sports Games are a sports and cultural festival held every four years in Lithuania. Last November, it was granted official legal status, defining the periodicity of the games and the funding model.
In calendar years when the games take place, about 1 million euros are usually allocated from the state budget for their organization.
The origins of the festival date back to the Lithuanian National Olympiad held in Kaunas in 1938. The first World Lithuanian Sports Games were held in the summer of 1978 in Toronto, Canada, dedicated to the 60th anniversary of Lithuania’s independence.
The second games took place in 1983 in Chicago, USA, the third in 1988 in Adelaide, Australia, and the fourth in 1991 in Lithuania.
The most recent games were held in July 2025 in Palanga. Nearly 3,000 sports enthusiasts from around the world participated, competing in 24 sports.
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