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The Next IOC President


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Ng Ser Miang tipped to become the next IOC chief

I'm not sure. Would the IOC elect someone whose name they can't pronounce? ;)

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Hmmm, he certainly doesn't seem to be as well know, at least in the west, as Bach, but I wonder if Singapore's hosting of the 2005 IOC session and the 2010 YOGs have helped them (and him) improve his contacts and support base behind the scenes in the IOC.

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I doubt if another american would be IOC pres. The last thing we need is another Avery Brundage! It will need to go to Asia if only to acknowledge the region's growing power. The IOC presidency is seen as one of the most prestigious roles probibly up there with the UN presidency.

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Do you think a predominantly European IOC will vote for a non-European leader?

I don't know. I didn't say I expected a non-European president. I said it would be nice. It certainly won't be an American and that's completely fine by me. I'm just sick of the IOC being so darn Euro-centric.

El Moutawakel would qualify as non-European and she is electable, but not this soon. She'll have to wait until Rogge's successor retires.

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Well, it would be a risk to put an Asian as an IOC President, since the IOC does not have one in the past. However, the first question that could come up amongst other veteran IOC members is this: How is your fluency of the French language?

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quote from Thomas Bach`s interview

...Have you given any more thought, I’m sure you have, about whether Thomas Bach will be a candidate for president?

TB: No, I feel honored that many colleagues think I could be fit for this office, but still I’m loyal to our president and I do not think that it would be good and it would be fair to him to have one year before his term ends to have the discussion and campaigning going on.

There are discussions and people are talking, obviously. There should be now no campaigning. We should support him because you mentioned some of the issues we have to solve – we’re not yet at the end of London.

We should do everything to make this a success and to focus on this and we have important decisions to take, like the program and others, and the issues are coming first and then it’s about the people.

ATR: Next June when the candidacies are declared, is that a time to discuss engaging in some public discussion and debate?

TB: This is not like a general election in the United States or in any other country that you have to make the candidate known to the people who elect him. Here they know them very well. Whoever the candidates are, they come from the membership and so the members are in an excellent position to form their opinion based on the experience they have with the candidates.

...

full article

ATR

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I don't know. I didn't say I expected a non-European president. I said it would be nice. It certainly won't be an American and that's completely fine by me. I'm just sick of the IOC being so darn Euro-centric.

El Moutawakel would qualify as non-European and she is electable, but not this soon. She'll have to wait until Rogge's successor retires.

I wasn't posing it as rhetorical but asking what your opinion was.

@Guardian interesting point. I think Fasel is the only one that knows how to.

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I think it would be nice if it WASN'T a European.

The problem is that US & Europe will never let high positions like this falls into other countries hands.

IMF & the IOC will remain in europe for a long time.

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I doubt if another american would be IOC pres. The last thing we need is another Avery Brundage! It will need to go to Asia if only to acknowledge the region's growing power. The IOC presidency is seen as one of the most prestigious roles probibly up there with the UN presidency.

Absolutely agree with the former! From all accounts, Brundage was an absolute disaster as an IOC President. His hapless defence of the Rhodesian cause, his role in continuing the 1972 Games as if nothing had happened and him turning a blind eye to authoritarian regimes throughout history (Nazi Germany 1936, Mexico 1968) and naive belief in amateurism led the Olympic Movement towards near-bankruptcy. And let's not forget the disgraceful pressure he applied on the United States Team in 1968 to have Carlos and Jones sent home for a legitimate protest against discrimination in the United States. I doubt, though, that we'll have someone quite as bigoted as President of the IOC again.

I'm not sure whether there are enough Asians who could challenge Thomas Bach for the presidency, if he asks for it. From the accounts that I've been reading, Richard Carrión, who is recognized for his commercial acumen in connection to TV broadcasting rights, seems to slowly emerge as a viable challenger. The fact that Jacques Rogge has effectively declared him a favourite doesn't bode well for Bach: basically, he has a giant bulls-eye on his back, behind which the various IOC factions (for instance, those who'd like a non-European after Killanin, Samaranch and Rogge) can coordinate in favour of an alternative candidate. Demographically speaking, Carrión would be ideal: Puerto Rican, he could bridge the divide between the Americas and has sufficient clout to sway the African votes behind him as well.

I concede that I'm also somewhat selfish as I'd like to see both a Summer and a Winter Olympic Games in Germany in the next 20 years - and that'd get far less likely if a German is elected President of the IOC. Also, he would actually mark a return to JAS-style lack of transparency. My hunch is that he'll become the Dick Pound of the 2010s: The heir who never becomes king.

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Pound is abrasive, short and lacks a degree of tact and decorum. He was never going to win.

Richard Carrion is in the same position as Pound was, largely responsible for the financial success of the Movement but not enough wider sport for to be President. Rogge suggestion Bach is a strong candidate is neither here nor there, Rogge was hand-picked by Samaranch.

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Question: Can a IF president hold that position if they become IOC president?

It would certainly be unheard of - plus, there is the potential for a conflict of interest. The IOC President can't be seen as favouring one IF over another.

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It will be a EUropean because (1) the UN General Secretary position, right now is an Asian, so it's OK to give the IOC presidency to a European. (2) the IOC president has to reside in Lausanne to attend to the nearly 24/7 matters of the IOC. Uprooting and settling into a very western environment I think will be difficult for an Asian or someone who lives and has his/her business interests half a world away. So for many practical reasons, it just makes sense to give it to, hopefully, a very impartial European.

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  • 2 months later...

Nawal mulls bid to be IOC's first female president

A woman, an African and a Muslim, Morocco's Nawal El Moutawakel is mulling a bid to succeed Jacques Rogge as president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) next year.

"Why not?" the IOC vice president told dpa in an interview in Rio de Janeiro. "I have not decided yet, there is a long list of contenders, but I might."

El Moutawakel, 50, would be the first woman to take the helm of the IOC, a powerful global institution. It has only ever had one non-European leader, the United States's Avery Brundage.

El Moutawakel has been a world sports icon since she won the 400-metre hurdles in the Los Angeles 1984 Olympics, becoming the first Muslim woman to win an Olympic gold medal. If she does run for the IOC presidency, and wins, she will make history for the second time.

Rogge is set to leave the job next year, and his successor is to be chosen in September 2013 in Buenos Aires. Other likely candidates are China's Ser Miang, Germany's Thomas Bach and Puerto Rico's Richard Carrion.

The candidacy of El Moutawakel, the head of the coordinating committee for the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Games, would also be a boost for a cause she passionately believes in: the end of men's long-standing hegemony in sports.

"Someone once said the future of sport is feminine, and I believe that. You cannot move forward without both legs, men and women. Complete integration is important," she said.

Increased female presence at major sports events is not enough, she continued.

"We want full inclusion in administration. Women are present in all activities, why can't they be leaders in sport?"

El Moutawakel said the fight for increased female involvement has made progress and reached a historic milestone at the London 2012 Olympics.

"For the first time, there was female participation in all 26 sports. The female boxing competition was a great success, the stadium was almost completely full everyday. Also for the first time, 35 out of the 204 national Olympic committees had more women than men in their delegations, including Germany and the United States," she recalled.

The former athlete said there are currently also more women in leadership positions at international and national federations and also at the IOC.

For El Moutawakel, such progress is largely due to Rogge's efforts, and she is an enthusiastic supporter of his work.

"I met Rogge in 1984, when he was Belgium's head of mission at the Games in Los Angeles, and I already felt in him back then the future leader of a large organisation," she said.

Among his successes, she cited the fight against doping and the creation of the Youth Olympic Games.

Regarding women's role, El Moutawakel also sees reason to celebrate. She remembers that the founder of the modern Olympics, Pierre de Coubertin, initially opposed letting women take part in the event, arguing that it would be "unsightly and inappropriate."

"He has been proved wrong," said El Moutawakel, who now aspires to the job the Baron de Coubertin himself held for close to three decades, 1896-1925.

http://www.superspor...emale_president

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  • 4 weeks later...

Campaign for IOC president takes shape, quietly

By STEPHEN WILSON | Associated Press

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Thomas Bach strides through the hotel lobby between meetings with a phone pressed to his ear. Over in one corner of the foyer sits Richard Carrion, deep in discussion with a fellow member. A few tables away, Ng Ser Miang chats with a colleague over a cup of tea.

All in the same room, three leading contenders all quietly engaged in the so-far unofficial campaign for perhaps the most powerful job in world sports: president of the International Olympic Committee.

Just don't say out loud that that the race is on.

With the election nine months away, the campaign to succeed Jacques Rogge is forging ahead behind the scenes without fanfare, policy platforms, debates — or any declared candidates for that matter.

Rogge, the Belgian surgeon who has led the Olympic body since 2001, steps down at the end of his term in September 2013. Although no one yet speaks openly about replacing him, the list of potential contenders is an open secret in IOC circles.

Some members are still sounding out their chances, while a few others look certain to run.

The deadline for declaration of candidacies is not until June, three months before the vote in Buenos Aires on Sept. 10. Candidates are likely to wait until closer to the date before announcing their intentions, thereby avoiding the impression of being too hasty or undercutting the outgoing president.

"It's little by little coming out in the open," Gerhard Heiberg, a senior IOC member from Norway who is not in the running, told The Associated Press. "It's still too early, but people are preparing for what's going to happen. I think that's good. It's an open field with many possible candidates and that's what we want."

Heading the prospective field are Bach, Carrion and Ng. All three were in Lausanne recently for IOC meetings, and they were hard to miss. While Bach and Ng are vice presidents who sit on the ruling executive board, Carrion is no longer a board member and must make an extra effort from outside the inner circle.

All three also made the trip to Israel for the 70th birthday celebrations of IOC member Alex Gilady earlier this month.

Bach, a German lawyer and former Olympic fencer, shapes up as the favorite. He ticks several boxes: He's from Europe, the dominant bloc in the IOC. Of the IOC's eight presidents since 1894, only one — Avery Brundage of the United States — came from outside Europe.

The 58-year-old Bach has been on the executive board — as a regular member or vice president — since 1996. He's a former Olympic athlete, having won the team foil gold medal at the 1976 Montreal Games. As chairman of the IOC juridical commission, he leads most of the investigations into doping cases. He's president of the German Olympic Sports Confederation.

Carrion, chairman of Puerto Rico's largest bank, Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, has made his mark as a money man. Head of the IOC's finance and audit commissions, he led the negotiations that secured the record $4.38 billion deal with NBC for U.S. TV rights through 2020. Carrion, 60, also oversees the IOC's financial reserves, which have grown to more than $550 million from $105 million in 2001.

If Carrion has a drawback, it's that he doesn't have a strong sporting background like Bach.

Ng, a 63-year-old member from Singapore, is seen as the candidate from Asia, a continent with growing influence on the world stage. Ng is best known for having led the organizing committee for the inaugural Youth Olympics — Rogge's pet project — in Singapore in 2010. Whether he can marshal the full backing of Asian members remains key to his chances.

British bookmakers are even listing odds on the race — with Bach the even-money favorite with Ladbrokes, followed by Carrion at 2-1 and Ng at 6-4.

There are a handful of others in the frame.

Nawal El Moutawakel, the Moroccan who won a gold medal in the women's 400-meter hurdles at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, confirmed recently that she was thinking about a possible run. She was elevated to the IOC vice presidency in July and holds a high-profile position as head of the coordination commission for the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Another woman, longtime U.S. member and former IOC vice president Anita DeFrantz, is a possible candidate. The former rower, who chairs the women and sports commission, ran for IOC president in 2001, but was eliminated in the first round. DeFrantz has failed in several attempts to return to the executive board since then.

Two Swiss members, Rene Fasel and Denis Oswald, are also weighing their options. Fasel is president of the International Ice Hockey Federation and led the IOC oversight panel for the 2010 Vancouver Games. Oswald, the former longtime head of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations, chaired the IOC commissions for the 2004 Athens and 2012 London Games.

"There are a few colleagues who are trying to convince me to run," Oswald told The Associated Press. "I haven't decided yet. I will have to assess the situation and my chances. I will make a decision in a few months, probably."

In the end, a field of four or five candidates would seem likely.

"Nobody is talking openly and declaring any firm intention but it's always pretty much the same names floating around," Oswald said. "I have the feeling that more than one (are) in the situation where they don't know yet and still wait to see how it develops and talk with some people."

Rogge was elected to an initial eight-year term and was re-elected unopposed to a final four-year mandate in 2009. The succession battle is developing as the 70-year-old Rogge, coming off recent hip replacement surgery, looks his age — a far cry from the sturdy and youthful man who took over 12 years go.

Members believe the election campaign should not overshadow the remainder of his presidency.

"Jacques Rogge is still the president and should not be disturbed by candidates going out openly at this stage," Heiberg said. "I hope the longer it takes before that starts, the better. The closer we get to the day for the voting, the better."

Holding off before declaring a candidacy can have strategic advantages. Once members become official candidates, they are covered by tight ethics rules that restrict election campaigning.

Under rules drawn up the ethics commission, candidates must limit their travel to promote their campaign. So, until then, members can still benefit from traveling to meetings or conferences where they can approach colleagues and privately discuss the election.

The ethics code also prohibits candidates from using social media to promote themselves and bars them from organizing any public meetings or taking part in any debate. The intention is to "prevent any excesses" and conduct the campaign with "dignity and moderation."

"In a way I think it's not a political election," Oswald said. "It shouldn't be at least. We know each other pretty well. I don't think we need to have a campaign the American way. The president who is able to have the best financial support is the one who is going to be able to win pretty much. It's good that we don't have something similar."

Rogge, meanwhile, has pledged to remain neutral in the race. The idea of grooming a successor or endorsing a candidate has never been an issue.

"It's certainly our president's attitude in general not to show any preference," Oswald said. "We have to respect that. I'm pretty sure he won't give any instruction or show any specific support to anyone."

For now, the instruction is simple: Shhhh! The campaign has yet to begin.

http://news.yahoo.com/campaign-ioc-president-takes-shape-quietly-100408792--oly.html

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I would personally like that Nawal wins, but my mind tells me Bach will probably get it. Specially since last time the "right hand" of the IOC president also got the presidency (Jacques Rooge was Samaranch man of trust, just like Bach is Rooge's one, although you probably already knew that)

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  • 4 weeks later...
Breaking down the barriers: soon this woman could run the Olympics Hurdler who was first female Muslim to win a gold medal is leading contender for the IOC's top job

...

Jacques Rogge steps down later this year as president of the International Olympic Committee, and coming up fast on the rails to replace him is Nawal el Moutawakel, the first Muslim woman to win an Olympic gold medal, the most formidable female presence on the IOC and emerging as a leading contender for the top job.

The candidacy of El Moutawakel is a boost for a cause that she passionately believes in, namely the end of men's long-standing hegemony in global sport. At 50, she would be the first woman to run the IOC, and only the second non-European to do the job, following the dictatorial Avery Brundage of the United States.

For all their attempts at modernisation, the IOC remain largely a preserve of the rich, the venerable – and the male. A few women members tread Lausanne's corridors of power, but none of them as purposefully as the mother-of-two El Moutawakel.

The progressive Rogge has consistently promoted her within the organisation – she heads the co-ordinating committee for the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Games – and I believe he would be happy to endorse her as his successor at the presidential election to be held at the 125th IOC session in Buenos Aires in September.

"Sport has given me so much that whatever I give back it will never be enough," she says. "I am certainly considering standing for the IOC presidency. Maybe it is time for a woman. But there is a long list of possible contenders."

These include: Thomas Bach, 59, long-serving vice-president and former German Olympic fencing champion; Richard Carrion, 60, a Puerto Rican banker; Denis Oswald, 65, a former Swiss rower and IOC stalwart; Wu Ching-kuo (aka Dr C K Wu), 66, the ambitious Taiwanese head of international boxing body AIBA; and Ng Ser Miang, 63, a Chinese-born Singaporean diplomat.

...

full article

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/breaking-down-the-barriers-soon-this-woman-could-run-the-olympics-8449356.html

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Electing new IOC President is a crucial decision for the Olympic Movement, says Ng Ser Miang
January 13 - Singapore's Ng Ser Miang has welcomed the growing interest in the race to replace Jacque Rogge as International Olympic Committee (IOC) President because he says the election will be a "crucial decision" for the Olympic Movement.

The 63-year-old former sailor, who is currently one of the four IOC vice-presidents, is considered one of the leading contenders to take over from the Belgian when his 12-year reign ends at the 125th Session in Buenos Aires in September 2013.

No IOC members have yet to officially declare their candidacy and will not have to do so until June this year, when they will then become bound by the stringent ethical codes governing IOC election campaigning.

But Ng has given his clearest indication yet that he is looking to replace Rogge in one of the most powerful positions in sport.

"It is good that there is interest, especially among the IOC members, because this is a crucial decision for the Olympic Movement," said Ng.

"With the current President stepping down in about nine months' time, it is natural that there would be stronger interest and greater attention on his succession."
Ng has a particularly strong powerbase amongst the Asian IOC membership and his stock rose significantly after he ran the hugely successful inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Singapore in 2010 as President of the Organising Committee.

The leading contender at present is seen to be Germany's highly respected IOC vice-president Thomas Bach, who has been installed by British bookmakers Ladbrokes as the even-money favourite.

Puerto Rico's Richard Carrion, who chairs the IOC's Finance Commission and Audit Commission, is second favourite with Ladbrokes at 2-1 and while Ng is just behind at 6-4.

Other contenders are said to be René Fasel and Denis Oswald, both of Switzerland, Morocco's Nawal El Moutawakel and C K Wu of Taiwan.
...
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