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The world's largest sports summit will be staged in London before the 2012 Olympics.
SportAccord, a week-long conference and trade fair, will be attended by 2,000 people, including the head of every major international sports federation.
Britain is holding the event for the first time, confirming London's importance as Olympic host city, with the bid by Visit London beating rivals including Doha in Qatar. The London Development Agency and UK Sport, which works to bring big sports events to Britain, also made grants to secure the deal.
City Hall has offered financial guarantees to organisers of the event in spring 2011 but expects SportAccord to deliver millions of pounds to the capital's economy. Contracts will be signed this month and Mayor Boris Johnson is expected to announce the deal to coincide with the International Olympic Committee's annual meeting in Copenhagen next month.
A City Hall source said: "This a real coup for the capital. We have worked hard to bring the event here and London will be a fitting host ahead of the Olympics."
SportAccord was set up in 2003 as a policy forum for more than 100 world sports federations. It attracts hundreds of lobbyists working for cities bidding to host the Olympics. Previous hosts include Berlin, Denver and Beijing and the event will visit Dubai next year.
It will also host a meeting of the IOC executive board, chaired by president Jacques Rogge, and will be responsible for major organisational issues in the run-up to London 2012.
