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The Next IOC President


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Games Hosts Must Have Clean Rights Record, Rights Group Says

25 August 2013 | Issue 5198

Reuters


BERLIN — The new president of the International Olympic Committee, who will be elected next month, must ensure that future Games' hosts comply with human rights according to the Olympic charter, human rights organizations said Friday.


In a letter to the IOC presidential candidates, Human Rights Watch and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) asked for their views on human rights as criticism of Russia's new anti-gay law mounts just six months before the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.


"With less than six months before the opening ceremony of the Sochi Winter Games, the Olympic Movement is facing a crisis over Russia's failure to respect the Olympic Charter in Sochi," Minky Worden, Human Rights Watch director of Global Initiatives at Human Rights Watch said in a statement.


"Just as the IOC assesses ice rinks and ski jumps, the new Olympics leader needs to press Russia to repeal a discriminatory law and address human rights violations before the Sochi Games."


The letter, dated Aug. 2, invites the six presidential candidates to state their views on a number of issues including media freedom in the country, migrant workers' rights abuses, evictions and harassment of activists in the run-up to the Sochi Games.


Russia has also been in the firing line since passing the controversial law that prohibits the dissemination of information promoting homosexuality to minors.


There have also been calls to boycott the Games next year, while several athletes at the world athletics championships in Moscow earlier this month voiced their opposition to the legislation.


After demanding clarifications from Russia on the law, the IOC said Thursday that it had received "strong assurances" that the anti-gay law would not affect athletes or spectators at the Sochi Games. The IOC said Russia had committed to comply "strictly" with the Olympic Charter.


There are six candidates to replace outgoing IOC President Jacques Rogge at the vote on Sept. 10.


IOC Vice Presidents Thomas Bach from Germany and Singaporean Ng Ser Miang are running for the top job along with Puerto Rican banker Richard Carrion; international sports administrators Denis Oswald of Switzerland and CK Wu of Taiwan; and former pole vault champion Sergei Bubka of Ukraine.


The IOC will elect its new president at its session in Buenos Aires, Argentina on Sept. 10.



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We need to review cost and size of Olympics: IOC official

Singapore: Olympic Games could have less medals and athletes after International Olympic Committee (IOC) presidential candidate Ng Ser Miang said a review of the cost and size would be a priority if he won next month’s vote.

The 64-year-old Singaporean also told Reuters in an interview he would look into scaling back the price and procedures for cities bidding to host the Olympics, a two-year process that is now estimated to cost around $80 million-$100 million (64 million pounds).

“It is time for us to do a major review of the size, the cost, the scale and the complexity of the Games,” said Ng at his office on Monday.

“This will be one of the priorities for sure. Even on the bid itself, the process. Whether we can make it more efficient, less costly with more respect to the cities bidding as well as for the sports themselves.

“But at the same time when we talk about reducing the size of the Games there are more sports knocking on the door wanting to be part of it so I think there is going to be a fine balance and we have got to find the optimum solution.”

Ng said all aspects of the Games would be looked at and did not rule out increasing the number of sports from 26 but with less medals available in each.

He is up against Germany’s Thomas Bach, Richard Carrion of Puerto Rico, Wu Ching-kuo of Taiwan, Swiss Denis Oswald and Ukraine’s former Olympic pole vault champion Sergey Bubka in the September 10 vote in Argentina to replace outgoing Belgian Jacques Rogge.

The softly-spoken Singaporean, an IOC vice president and former international sailor, was non-committal about the areas he would like to slim down, adding he would discuss the issue with all members before making changes.

“There could be a review on the number of athletes, different disciplines, there could be a review of disciplines in the existing sports,” added Ng.

“There could be a more optimum allocation of scheduling of competitions. I believe there are some opportunities there for us to look at so we have to, definitely, consider some of these.”

...

http://www.firstpost.com/sports/we-need-to-review-cost-and-size-of-olympics-ioc-official-1061591.html

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How does the election work, is it like the host city vote?

just to clarify...

...

The voting process is the same as for the bid cities.

Some of Bach's supporters believe he could win in the first round. If not, things could get trickier, as it's not clear where the votes will go in the next rounds. Wu and Bubka appear to be the most vulnerable of going out first.

If Bach is elected, he would continue Europe's hold on the presidency. Of the IOC's eight leaders, all have come from Europe except for Avery Brundage, the American who ran the committee from 1952-72.

Bach brushes off the pressure of being the front-runner and exudes confidence heading into the final days.

"I take this campaign like I prepared for a big competition as an athlete," he told the AP. "You know how important good training is, that it's very helpful if your test events are going well. This can give you confidence. But, on the other hand, all that does not count when it comes to the grand final. That is the same for Sept. 10. You want to see the competition taking place. I'm really looking forward to this day."

....
AP
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Will some members vote for Ng as a non-European, both to give somewhere else the presidency, & to pave the way for Seb Coe to take it on at the next election?

1) Coe isn't an IOC member

2) Coe is likely to not become an IOC member in the foreseeable future

3) Coe would not be able to get enough support in a the short amount of time that he would potentially be an IOC member to combat someone like el Moutawakel who already has more experience than Coe could ever have.

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1) Coe isn't an IOC member

2) Coe is likely to not become an IOC member in the foreseeable future

3) Coe would not be able to get enough support in a the short amount of time that he would potentially be an IOC member to combat someone like el Moutawakel who already has more experience than Coe could ever have.

I'm a fan of Nawal, but Coe is well respected.

He could well become an IOC member and has proven executive experience in the upper echelons of international sport. I'd vote for Nawal (and I do believe she'll be the 10th IOC president), but Coe could be a contender.

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I'm a fan of Nawal, but Coe is well respected.

He could well become an IOC member and has proven executive experience in the upper echelons of international sport. I'd vote for Nawal (and I do believe she'll be the 10th IOC president), but Coe could be a contender.

Ok, thats look at this logically.

It is 2013, Diack will be IAAF president until 2015. Becoming IAAF president is the only way Coe could become an IOC (unless Reedie or Princess Anne die). That means that it will be 2017 at the earliest, if Coe managers to beat Bubka for the IAAF presidentcy, that Coe could become an IOC member. Bach will be president until 2025 (given re-election), there is not a hope in hell Coe would be able to get enough experience and support in 8 years to become IOC president. And than would the IOC even want to give control over to a man that is so closely tied to one federation? Add in a lot of personal dislike of Coe and it will not happen. There is only one former head of an organizing committee IOC member and for good reason.

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I like him, he looks like the sort who'd put the world to rights with you over a beer. What will the fate of the YOG be under him, they were very much Rogge's pet project. It will be strange seeing him at the Olympic ring podiums after so many years of Rogge. Good luck to him. :)

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Ok, thats look at this logically.

It is 2013, Diack will be IAAF president until 2015. Becoming IAAF president is the only way Coe could become an IOC (unless Reedie or Princess Anne die). That means that it will be 2017 at the earliest, if Coe managers to beat Bubka for the IAAF presidentcy, that Coe could become an IOC member. Bach will be president until 2025 (given re-election), there is not a hope in hell Coe would be able to get enough experience and support in 8 years to become IOC president. And than would the IOC even want to give control over to a man that is so closely tied to one federation? Add in a lot of personal dislike of Coe and it will not happen. There is only one former head of an organizing committee IOC member and for good reason.

Out of curiosity, what is the reason? Why do presidents of organizing committees make poor IOC members?

Just FYI, I don't personally care for Coe. Obviously he has executive ability. I can imagine him rising faster than some.

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Out of curiosity, what is the reason? Why do presidents of organizing committees make poor IOC members?

Just FYI, I don't personally care for Coe. Obviously he has executive ability. I can imagine him rising faster than some.

Lets say you started your professional career at Company A, you work your way up and finally get into that corner office and are rubbing shoulders with the big boys. It is promotion time again, but oh wait they just hired this new guy to take the job you've been working 15 years for. That is essentially what bringing in someone like that is, The IOC likes to keep things in the family and reward those that are loyal to the IOC first and earn their strips through the IOC.

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Lets say you started your professional career at Company A, you work your way up and finally get into that corner office and are rubbing shoulders with the big boys. It is promotion time again, but oh wait they just hired this new guy to take the job you've been working 15 years for. That is essentially what bringing in someone like that is, The IOC likes to keep things in the family and reward those that are loyal to the IOC first and earn their strips through the IOC.

But this is exactly new member Larry Probst of the USOC. He was the guy who built and was the big gun at Electronic Arts. So he's very much his own CEO but is now just one of 112 voters, albeit a very important step for the USOC. (Also, giving the USOC 4 spots now, I think, is a consolation for the 2 big slaps of the NYC and Chicago losses but still an acknowledgment that the US is the most important country in the Olympic movement -- even tho it is not a current host. It is also a small quid pro quo step for the revenues issue in which the USOC gave up a lot: they gave us an additional USOC seat + it got Anita back to the Executive Board.)

With 4 members in the IOC ranks (+ one in the EB), the US is right now as powerful (in numbers) as the Italians are. That makes it easier to get a better collective feel of when the next best chances for a US bid are.

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Lets say you started your professional career at Company A, you work your way up and finally get into that corner office and are rubbing shoulders with the big boys. It is promotion time again, but oh wait they just hired this new guy to take the job you've been working 15 years for. That is essentially what bringing in someone like that is, The IOC likes to keep things in the family and reward those that are loyal to the IOC first and earn their strips through the IOC.

That makes sense in terms of the presidency, of course. (Although companies very frequently bring in feted outsiders to helm the operation rather than promoting from within.)

It doesn't explain, however, why the leader of an organizing committee wouldn't make a good IOC member. It seems to me that sort of person would be uniquely equipped to make a meaningful contribution.

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Wiesenthal Center Calls for UN Action over New IOC Head

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is seeking action from the United Nations over the new president of the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) membership in an organization that encourages boycotts of Israel.

In a letter to the Special Advisor to the UN Secretary-General on Sport for Development and Peace (UNOSDP), Wilfried Lemke, the center’s Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels, called for newly elected IOC head, Thomas Bach, to be pressed to resign his Chairmanship of the German agency for boycott of Israel.

In the letter, published on the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s website, Samuels quoted the Olympic Truce, under General Assembly Resolution 48/11 of 25 October 1995 and the Millennium Declaration, whereby the United Nations together with the Olympic movement (IOC) aspire “to contribute to a peaceful future for humankind, through the educational value of sport … to promote maintenance of peace, mutual understanding and goodwill—goals it shares with the United Nations."

The letter noted, "Since 1988, the IOC has flown the UN flag at all competitive sites of the Olympic Games, thereby binding the UN as a partner in sharing responsibility for the positions of the IOC and their consequences."

Samuels added, "This would arguably, include the conflict of interests of newly elected IOC President, Thomas Bach, who is simultaneously Chairman of GHORFA that is the acronym for the Arab-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Established by the Arab States in the 1980s, this Chamber reputedly continues to issue certificates of negative origin, proclaiming that contractually supplied goods contain no elements of Israeli origin. Such discriminatory certificates camouflaging the boycott of Israel were banned as illegal by the German government over twenty years ago."

"Even more significant, that as IOC Vice-President, Bach reportedly argued for the denial of a moment of silence in honour of the eleven Israeli athletes murdered by Palestinian terrorists in Munich, forty years earlier," wrote Samuels.

He added, "Under the aforementioned resolutions, the UN should have the authority to demand Bach’s resignation from his GHORFA Boycott of Israel Chairmanship. His continued maintenance of both positions will result in boycott polluting sport in violation of the declared principles of both the UN and the IOC."

The letter charged, "For Holocaust survivors and sports enthusiasts, Bach’s apparent support for those who would harm the Jewish state raises the specters of another Olympics—in Nazi Berlin in 1936."

The letter urged the Special Advisor and Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to "Press IOC President Bach to devote himself to sport and not boycott."

"We would sorely lament the impugning of both the International Olympic Committee and the United Nations as a consequence of Thomas Bach's Presidency," concluded Samuels.

The IOC was in the news last year when it repeatedly rejected calls to hold a moment of silence at the opening ceremony of the games in London for the 11 Israeli athletes who were murdered during the 1972 Munich Olympics.

The former head of the IOC, Jacques Rogge, claimed that the opening ceremony is “not fit” to remember the Munich Massacre.

After the IOC continued to refuse calls to hold a moment of silence, even when presented with a petition by the widows of two the victims, a memorial ceremony for the 11 was held in London on the sidelines of the games.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/171877#.UjNa2uUdiM0

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Now that, is serious business. I m not sure it's going to affect Mr Bach's presidency but I must say I fully understand the position of the Wiesenthal Center.

He probably should forsake his position in the GHORFA, and therefore have a more neutral image. Be it only to strengthen his IOC leader position.

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Now that, is serious business. I m not sure it's going to affect Mr Bach's presidency but I must say I fully understand the position of the Wiesenthal Center.

He probably should forsake his position in the GHORFA, and therefore have a more neutral image. Be it only to strengthen his IOC leader position.

I agree.

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