Editing World Games (section)

===Invitational sports===
In addition to the official sports, the host city, in coordination with the IWGA, has been allowed to invite sports to participate in the individual program. These sports optionally are permitted to include international sports federations that were not members of the IWGA.<ref name="Rules"/>{{rp|13–14}} Before Birmingham 2022, these were deemed "invitational sports".

Starting in Birmingham 2022, there was no distinction between official and invitational sports. Host cities are still able to select up to five optional sports, but they are designated "official" sports, rather than invitational. In addition, the host city will be able to designate "display sports".<ref name="Growth"/>{{rp|10–11}} José Perurena, IWGA President, stated, "In Birmingham, for the first time, invitational sports were no longer presented separately but were also part of the official programme."<ref name="host"/> For example, the Birmingham Organising Committee selected [[Field lacrosse|men's lacrosse]] (women's being selected by the IWGA), [[duathlon]], [[flag football]] and [[Wushu (sport)|wushu]]. For the first time ever, a paralympic sport was part of the program as a [[wheelchair rugby]] tournament was held.<ref name="invite">{{cite web|url=https://twg2022.com/2020/five-invitational-sports/|date=15 Sep 2020|title=Five Invitational Sports in The World Games 2022|publisher=TWG 2022 Birmingham|website=twg2022.com|access-date=2021-05-30|archive-date=2022-02-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220227164430/https://twg2022.com/2020/five-invitational-sports/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Some sports or disciplines started in The World Games as invitational sports and then became official, often as their international federations became part of the IWGA. These include the [[Bocce volo|lyonnaise]] discipline of [[Boules|boules sports]], [[beach handball]], [[sumo]], and indoor [[tug of war]].