About 2,000 people, including heads of Organising Committees for the Olympics and Paralympics and Presidents of International Federations (IFs), from almost 100 countries, are set to gather in the French capital over the next few days.

The annual meeting, staged at Accor Arena - a venue for Paris 2024 - is being held against the backdrop of Russia's military assault on Ukraine and countries still feeling the effects of the global health crisis.

"Our mission is to make things change in the right direction," Boyer told insidethegames.

"Every single sports industry is facing a lot of movements.

"There is a very clear need to bring all those concerns and issues together and try to shape, shake and share.

"That’s our promise.

"In this moment in time, many things can accelerate and there are reasons to be overwhelmed by all those changes so it is a good solution for everybody to take a little bit of time from the craziness of daily life, stand back and try to understand and get some inspiration from people by sharing your experiences.

"I think this is a very simple position, but it is fulfilling a very important need from the sports industry globally.

"What kinds of topics can we create and how can this move the needle a little bit from the inbox thinking to getting more into the outbox space.

"We believe there is need for creativity, there is a need for ideas and there is a need for commitment and action beyond the box."

Russia and Belarus have been thrown into the sporting wilderness as numerous organisations impose sanctions over their involvement in the war in Ukraine.

The International Olympic Committee has recommended athletes from the two countries be banned from international sport - a call heeded by most IFs.

The pandemic is also continuing to have an impact on the staging of events, with China notably postponing the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games and the Chengdu 2021 Summer World University Games last week due to COVID-19 concerns.

"Sport is under big tension," said Boyer.

"We can see that the pandemic has created a lot of questions that are still not answered yet.

"There is a lot of movement from different communities to really seize the need for sport.

"What we have learned from the pandemic is that sport is needed.

"It’s an essential need in people’s life.

"It’s a fantastic way to bring people and communities together.

"There are those tensions as the pandemic has caused a lot of difficulties in some countries and war is bringing even more uncertainty.

"Sport is not different from the rest of society.

"But instead of losing nerve and becoming very stressed, it seems that the majority of leaders and the more talent joining sport from a professional and creative standpoint the world of sport is more equipped to go through the troubled times and see what can be a positive output from a crisis."

It will be the third edition of Global Sports Week and second in-person gathering after the inaugural event in 2020.

This year's edition was originally scheduled to be held from March 7 to 11 only to be pushed back two months in order to ensure as many delegates as possible from around the world can attend.

With last year’s edition staged largely online due to the coronavirus pandemic, Boyer said he was pleased to welcome attendees back to the French capital for Global Sports Week, which opens today at Paris City Hall and is set to run until Wednesday (May 11).

"Last year was a great second step so we are really encouraged not to lower our ambitions for the third year," added Boyer.

"We realised that this year we needed to have this in-person gathering so instead of keeping the date we are keeping the format.

"I think we did the right thing last year because if we had postponed it, it would have been impossible to bring people together.

"It is necessary to bring people together in the build-up to the Paris 2024 Olympics, making this event very relevant.

"It is important to have a place where people can share views and a place where a small action can trigger a bigger idea in the mind of people who have a lot of power."