WFSGI Names New Board Chairman

ITTIGEN (BERN), SWITZERLAND and MUNICH, GERMANY (November 29, 2022) – The World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry (WFSGI) elected a new Board of Directors for a three-year term at its General Assembly on November 29, 2022 at ISPO Munich. Andy Rubin, Deputy Chair Pentland Group Ltd., was elected new Chair of the Board of the WFSGI. All nominated candidates were confirmed by the General Assembly. Klaus Dittrich, Li Hua, Martin Künzi, Michel Perraudin, Marius Rovers and George Wood have been awarded WFSGI Honorary Director for their decades of service to the industry.

Rubin thanked the outgoing co-Chairs Motoi Oyama-san, Chairman of the Board of Directors ASICS Corp., and James Zheng, Board Executive Director & Group President of ANTA Sports Products Limited, for their leadership over the last three years.

In his inaugural speech, Rubin addressed his fellow industry leaders: “Together as the sporting goods industry, we can have a positive impact on the most important global issues and especially climate change, inequality and protectionism. An increased awareness of the benefits of physical activity are a good sign for our industry, but according to the WHO (World Health Organization) 1 in 4 adults and 81% of adolescents globally do not do enough physical activity. The WFSGI serves the sporting goods industry to enable people to be physically active on a healthy planet. During my tenure I would like to see our industry continue to work together to reduce our impact on the planet, inspire more people to move more and promote free and fair trade.”

“Over the past couple of years the sporting goods industry has experienced a major shift,” stated WFSGI President and CEO Robbert de Kock. “We have been able to support our members successfully with leading sources of insights, knowledge and resources. Together with our partner McKinsey we have been analyzing the state of the sporting goods industry for the past years. Currently, our Sporting Goods Report 2023 is underway and we can see a few trends that create an almost unparalleled challenging environment for our industry.

“Geopolitical developments, disrupted global supply chains, and rapidly rising interest rates, and borrowing costs point to a looming global economic recession. With an operationally excellent infrastructure and relevant services in place, we strive to support our members to get ahead of the curve. Corporate Responsibility and Digitization proof to be very relevant to our membership. We actively keep addressing pressing industry issues and regulatory developments. At the same time we intensify our collaborations with International Organizations and International Sport Federations for the growth of the industry and sport at large.”