Invictus Games Düsseldorf postponed to 2023

The Invictus Games Düsseldorf have been postponed a year to Summer 2023.

In close coordination with the Invictus Games Foundation, the German Organising Committee have decided to reschedule the event due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, to accommodate the rescheduled Invictus Games The Hague which will now take place in 2021. It will thus be possible to maintain the two-year Invictus Games cycle and give the competitors and their friends and families the time they need for practice and preparation between the two events.

Back in 2019, Germany, represented by the Federal Ministry of Defence (FMOD) together with the Sports City of Düsseldorf, successfully applied for hosting the Invictus Games, announced by the Invictus Games Foundation in January 2020. This international sporting competition will help to generate a wider understanding and respect for armed forces personnel and veterans who have been physically or mentally wounded, both in Germany and abroad.

True to the motto ‘A Home for Respect’

Germany is looking forward to welcoming approx. 500 competitors from 20 countries in 2023. As the Invictus Games are not only focussed on the competitors’ recovery, achievements and competition, about 1,000 friends and family members will also accompany the participants to Düsseldorf. The spirit of the event is about using the power of sport to inspire recovery and support rehabilitation, for which friends and family are of the utmost importance.

Düsseldorf’s MERKUR SPIEL-ARENA will be the heart of the Invictus Games Park in 2023. The Organising Committee’s vision is to give the Invictus Games Düsseldorf 2023 a very personal atmosphere, and to make everyone experience the venue as ‘A Home for Respect’. The Invictus Games Düsseldorf are now scheduled to be held over a 1-week period in June 2023 at a date yet to be announced.

Dr Peter Tauber, Parliamentary State Secretary to the FMOD: “The Invictus Games are a beacon of our efforts to promote public acceptance and appreciation of service in the armed forces. Our aim is to increase society’s awareness of the risks associated with military life, e.g. the risk of being wounded, or even killed in action. This is why we chose ‘A Home for Respect‘ as the motto for our Games in Germany. Postponing the event to 2023 has given us one more year to attract attention and to open people’s hearts to the Invictus Games.”

Thomas Geisel, Chief Mayor of Düsseldorf: “The coronavirus pandemic has an impact on the events industry as a whole. It is therefore all the more important to prepare for the future: All participants and visitors are going to experience unique Games in the Sports City of Düsseldorf in 2023. It is going to be an outstanding event that we all will remember for a very long time.”

Dominic Reid, CEO of The Invictus Games Foundation: “Moving the Invictus Games Düsseldorf to 2023 allows the competitors and their team managers time to plan their recovery pathways following the move of The Invictus Games The Hague to next year. It’s extremely complex to be planning not one, but two multi-national sporting events in the middle of a pandemic, and the Invictus Games Foundation is grateful to the Organising Committee in Germany for their flexibility and hard work in responding to the challenges.”