IPA Games
Friendship Through Sport
Launched in 2018, the IPA Games are a flagship international sports event of the International Police Association, held every two years. The Games bring together police officers and uniformed personnel from IPA Sections around the world for a celebration of sport, friendship, and international cooperation.
More than just a competition, the IPA Games are a unique social event — filled with excitement, camaraderie, and cultural exchange.
Previous Editions
- 2018 – Lisbon, Portugal
- 2022 – Bar, Montenegro
- 2024 – Bucharest, Romania
- 2026 – Wrocklaw, Poland
Report from IPA Games 2026 – Wrocław, Poland
Police officers from 30 countries, who belong to the International Police Association, came to Wrocław to compete for several days for the title of the best in 12 different sports disciplines, including: football, volleyball, 3×3 basketball, street running, swimming, shooting, badminton, tennis and judo. The championship began with a march through the streets of the city and the ceremonial inauguration of the competition on the Market Square in Wrocław. Sports competitions of over 1000 officers took place on the premises of the Academy of Physical Education, the University of Economics, the Olympic Stadium, the SPISKA – WCT Spartan Training Center, the Wrocław Squash Club and the WKS Śląsk facilities, as well as on the Liberty Square at the National Forum of Music, where the closing ceremony of the competition was also held…
In addition to sports competitions as part of IPA GAMES 2026, the organizers have also taken care of a rich additional program aimed at integrating the police environment, exchanging experiences between participants, as well as enabling them to discover the beautiful corners of Wrocław and Lower Silesia.
The Games showed, among other things, how the idea of the IPA Association “Servo per Amikeco” – “Serve through friendship” successfully connects Police officers across borders. Especially in these difficult times, such events confirm that friendship and human rights, as well as building relationships based on mutual respect, make sense. IPAGAMES2026 took place on the hundredth anniversary of the first police sports competition organized by the Police Headquarters in 1926.
The start of this unique event took place on May 11, 2026, and on that day, representatives of police officers from almost all over the world took part in a ceremonial march through the center of Wrocław, and at 12:00 p.m., the official inauguration of the IPA GAMES 2026 International Police World Championship took place on the Old Town Square. The event was attended by over a thousand police athletes from: Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Montenegro, Denmark, Estonia, Gibraltar, Greece, Ireland, Iceland, France, Finland, Canada, Lithuania, Latvia, Luxembourg, Moldova, Monaco, Germany, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Serbia, Switzerland, Ukraine, Italy and, of course, Polish.
On the other hand, from the early morning hours of 12 May this year, to the late afternoon of 14 May this year, uniformed officers competed with each other in 12 sports disciplines, such as: football, volleyball, 3×3 basketball, 5 and 10 km street running, swimming, shooting, badminton, chess, tennis, table tennis, and judo.
Representatives of individual countries participating in the march were very happy to carry their national flags and symbols of the formation in their hands, which was warmly welcomed by the inhabitants and brought smiles to the faces of many people participating in the opening ceremony and journalists who reported on the course of events.
It was attended by, among others: Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Sport and Tourism – Mr. Ireneusz Nalazek, Voivode of Lower Silesia – Ms. Anna Żabska, Marshal of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship – Mr. Paweł Gancarz, First Vice-Mayor of Wrocław – Ms. Renata Granowska, on behalf of the Chief Commander of the Police, Plenipotentiary of the KGP for Sport in the Police – mł. Insp. Daniel Grzyb, Provincial Police Commander in Szczecin – Chief Insp. Szymon Sędzik, and on behalf of the Provincial Police Commander in Wrocław, his first deputy – insp. Norbert Kurenda and Deputy – Insp. Krzysztof Kumaszka, Plenipotentiary of the KGP for the Protection of Human Rights – mł. Insp. Anna Maj-Wydra, Deputy Municipal Police Commander in Wrocław – Sub-Insp. Radosław Wasiak, IPA International President – Mr. Martin Hoffmann, IPA World Authorities Member – Mr. Christos Parginos and President of IPA Poland – Mr. Piotr Wójcik. The whole thing was coordinated by Superintendent Bartłomiej Majchrzak – Plenipotentiary of the Provincial Police Headquarters in Wrocław for the Protection of Human Rights, who is also the Leader of the IPA in Lower Silesia and without his personal great dedication and commitment, the IPA GAMES 2026 Championship would probably not have taken place in Wrocław.
The ceremony was a symbolic beginning of a several-day celebration of sport, integration and international cooperation of the police community, and the decorations of the competitors and the presentation of medals took place immediately after the end of the competition in individual categories/disciplines, and the ceremonial end of the championship was organized on May 14 at the Freedom Square at the National Forum of Music.
At 6:30 p.m., the participants of the Games could listen to a short concert by the Orchestra of the Voivodeship Police Headquarters in Wrocław, which is one of several of its kind in the country and whose musicians have participated in many prestigious events. Present on site: insp. Tomasz Jędrzejowski – Deputy Provincial Police Commander in Wrocław, junior Commander of the Provincial Police in Wrocław. Insp. Sławomir Kukuś – Deputy Municipal Police Commander in Wrocław, Mr. Christos Parginos – representative of the IPA world authorities, Mr. Piotr Wójcik – President of IPA Poland and Chief Commander Bartłomiej Majchrzak – Chairman of the IPA GAMES 2026 Organizing Committee, who is the Leader of IPA in Lower Silesia, together proceeded to hand over commemorative rhinestones and gifts, which were specially prepared for each of the national teams participating in the Games. All participants also received commemorative medals for participating in the competition. The closing ceremony was also an opportunity to thank the members of the IPA GAMES 2026 Organizing Committee and the guardians of the national teams. A nice touch was also the presentation of medals by the President of the IPA Polish Section to outstanding people who are constantly working for the benefit of the association.
The event ending the closing ceremony of the championship was the presentation of the IPA GAMES 2026 Cup to the national team that won the most medals in the ranking. The winner turned out to be the Polish Police team, whose competitors won a total of: 23 gold, 18 silver and 25 bronze medals. It was a symbolic and at the same time important victory, because this year in our country, we celebrate the 100th anniversary of sports in the Police. The second place in the competition for the cup was taken by the Romanian national team, whose players won: 13 gold, 14 silver and 16 bronze medals.
Despite the rainy weather surprise, the event ended with smiles on the faces of its participants and many commemorative photos, which will now remind of sports competitions in the spirit of “Citius, Altius, Fortius” – the Olympic motto: faster, higher, stronger, and will also remain in their memory for a long time.
The organizers emphasized that the championship was also an excellent opportunity to promote Wrocław and Lower Silesia in the world as modern, open and friendly places for international events.
The IPA GAMES 2026 championship was organized by IPA Polska together with the Provincial Police Headquarters in Wrocław, the Wrocław City Hall, the Marshal’s Office of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship and the partners of the event. We would like to thank all institutions, entities and people involved in the organization of this beautiful sporting event.
Chief Commander Bartłomiej Majchrzak – IPA Leader in Lower Silesia
asp. pcs. Łukasz Dutkowiak – Spokesman of the Provincial Police Headquarters in Wrocław
To view photographs of Opening ceremony please click on link below