Following last year’s launch of the event, which gathered 2,000 leaders of the world sports economy at the Carrousel du Louvre in Paris, the current pandemic has obliged organisers to put together a hybrid of live and online discussion that will involve sports leaders, politicians and athletes from across the world in an effort to set the agenda for sport’s new era.

The 2021 edition is set to be in a hybrid format, mixing a digital programme and physical events in Paris, Tokyo, Beijing and Dakar.

Access for delegates will be online, but speakers will gather in the four cities, chosen as they are set to host Olympic events in the coming years.

Also present at the official opening will be Jean-Francois Martins, chairman of the Eiffel Tower Operating Company, and GSW chairman and co-founder Lucien Boyer.

Maracineanu will then take part in the opening session on the main Arena Live site that will host major events for three days, book-ended today and on Friday (February 5) by a range of other activations, workshops and masterclasses on the Village Live section, and the Pro Zone.

The first session, on Reinvention in Action, will also feature the French/American former National Basketball Association player and entrepreneur Tony Parker.

This will be followed by a keynote session entitled: The Future of Sports Events: Visions of Olympic and Paralympic Leaders.

This will involve Estanguet, Andrew Parsons, President of the International Paralympic Federation, Kathy Carter, chief revenue officer for the Los Angeles 2028 Games and Olympic Games executive director Christophe Dubi.

The Arena Live programme will be interspersed with shorter sections introducing and interviewing key figures from within sport.

insidethegames co-founder and editor Duncan Mackay will host one such session on Thursday (February 4) from 1pm CET with shooter Abhinav Bindra, India’s first individual Olympic gold medallist.

Offerings in the Arena Live section of the event on Wednesday (February 3) will include Tony Liu, head of legacy for the Beijing 2022 Organising Committee, speaking about the Beijing legacy blueprint from 2008 to 2022.

Former Chelsea and Ivory Coast football star Didier Drogba, now vice-president of Peace and Sport, will be among those discussing The Place of Sport in Education.

Other highlights on the day include an interview with the Association of Tennis Professionals chairman, Andrea Gaudenzi, a session on the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympic and Paralympic Vision, and discussion about What Does Gender Equality Really Mean in Sport and Sport as a Catalyst for Social Justice, the latter involving IPC President Parsons.

Thursday’s programme in the Arena Live section starts with a session entitled Towards Tokyo 2020, involving Hidemasa Nakamura, Games delivery officer and executive director of sports for Tokyo 2020, Junichi Kawai, President of the Japanese Paralympic Committee and Nikkei sportswriter Koichiro Yoshino.

Highlights from the GSW Village programme include a panel on the governance of esports, a discussion on the empowerment of high performance sports organisations, and the presentation of the inaugural WFSGI and McKinsey sporting goods industry report.

The GSW Pro Zone is for pro ticket holders only, and will offer a number of events for industry professionals.