Linked PressMay 26, 2023, 03:16 PM ET1 Minute Study

LAUSANNE, Switzerland — The governing physique of swimming mentioned Friday it is hunting to leave the Olympics’ residence city in Switzerland and move its headquarters to Hungary.

Planet Aquatics has signed a operating agreement with officials from the government in Budapest of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

Budapest staged the aquatics globe championships in 2017 and 2022, and it is set to host once more in 2027. It also hosts offices for the governing bodies of Olympic sports judo and weightlifting.

“Hungary has repeatedly verified itself to be a great host for our sport and for our athletes,” Planet Aquatics president Husain al-Musallam mentioned in a statement, adding the governing physique “remains sincerely grateful for this.”

In 2018 the globe swim physique, then identified by its French acronym FINA, celebrated its 110th anniversary by inaugurating a new headquarters in Lausanne on a hillside road neighboring the Swiss supreme court. The 19th-century villa had been extended with modern day offices.

Planet Aquatics noted Friday that it operates “a number of improvement centers about the globe” — such as in Russia, Senegal and Thailand — and Budapest “attributes committed aquatics instruction and competitors facilities.”

Media in Budapest reported Planet Aquatics aims to have persons from Hungary fill half of its employees jobs there.

The swim organization was founded in 1908 in London and moved to Lausanne in 1986.