Leading representatives of the Olympic Movement met in Lausanne today, with the
Olympic Agenda 2020 process central to their discussions. Sports leaders heard
updates on the proposals that have so far been generated on Olympic Agenda 2020,
the strategic roadmap for the future of the Olympic Movement, which is scheduled
for further consideration and final approval at the Extraordinary IOC Session in
December.
The Olympic Summit was convened by International Olympic Committee
President Thomas Bach at the IOC headquarters in Lausanne. It forms part of the
on-going dialogue and consultation on the main topics of interest and concern to
the Olympic Movement. It brings together the IOC Vice-Presidents and Presidents
of the major stakeholders of the Olympic Movement. *(See list of attendees at the
end of this press release.)
The Summit welcomed the inclusive and transparent process that has also
received contributions from civil society and the general public and enhanced good
governance at the IOC. Under the direction of the IOC, Olympic Agenda 2020 has
addressed three major themes: sustainability, credibility and youth. The Summit
fully supported the direction of the reforms. Detailed discussions have taken place
on a range of key issues including cost management of the Games, protecting the
clean athletes, good governance and youth strategy. Click here for the 14 subthemes.
In particular the Summit supported:
● A new strategy for the bidding procedure. This includes giving more
flexibility to bid cities, with emphasis on the sustainability of the Olympic Games. Candidate
Cities should focus on what legacies the Olympic Games can bring to the area and
its citizens from the very beginning of the bid procedure, and in particular how the
Games fit best into the social, environmental and long-term development plan of a
host region. The need for Olympic Movement stakeholders to remain flexible and
open to reasonable adaptation to this concept was also agreed.
● Changes to the procedure for the composition of the Olympic
programme. The goal is to present proposals for a more flexible approach by
adopting an event-based rather than a sport-based approach to the composition of
the programme, while retaining the limit on the number of athletes participating.
● The establishment of an Olympic TV channel. Participants
supported an Olympic TV channel, recognizing the potential to greatly increase the
presence of sports and the promotion of the Olympic values year round and
worldwide. The IOC will contact all the relevant stakeholders in the coming months
to further develop the concept.
Further consultations on Olympic Agenda 2020 are scheduled for September,
when today’s contributions, along with the discussions of the Working Groups in
June, will be presented to the IOC commissions. The refined proposals will then be
discussed again at an Executive Board (EB) meeting in October, before being
presented for discussion by the entire IOC membership and final approval at the
Extraordinary IOC Session in Monaco, on 8 and 9 December 2014.
The Olympic Summit participants acknowledged the benefits for the entire
Olympic Movement from the growing collaboration enjoyed at the highest level
between the IOC and the United Nations following the signing of a historic
memorandum of understanding between the two organisations earlier this year.
The participants were looking with confidence in the future of the Olympic
Movement with regard to long-term financial stability following a number of
agreements finalised this year: The recently signed broadcast and TOP sponsor
agreements not only guarantee the long-term financial stability of the IOC and the
Olympic Movement but also exhibit the trust that corporations have in the IOC.
Earlier this year, the IOC completed a long-term deal until 2032 with US broadcaster
NBC Universal and another with the Japanese consortium for the
Japan broadcasting rights, in addition to signing Bridgestone as a new TOP partner
and extending the TOP partnership with Panasonic.
Updates were also given on the subjects addressed at the previous Olympic
Summits, and progress reports on three key issues were provided. These included
the fight against doping; the sports calendar; autonomy and good governance; and
the fight against match-fixing and related corruption.
1) Protecting the clean athletes
A report was given on the additional fund of USD 20 million set aside by the
IOC in the fight to protect clean athletes, which is to be shared equally between the
fight against doping and combating match-fixing and related corruption.
The President of ASOIF presented the latest developments in the Olympic
Movement’s efforts in the fight against match-fixing. These include closer
cooperation with governments and betting operators to better coordinate efforts in
the field of education, monitoring and the harmonization of legislation.
The IOC has introduced the IBIS monitoring system and put it at the service
of the stakeholders of the Olympic Movement. An update was also given on
cooperation with Interpol, including the signing of a memorandum of understanding
between the two organisations.
The participants heard a report from the WADA President on the current
position of WADA on how to ensure the permanent protection of clean athletes in
cooperation with all stakeholders of the Olympic Movement. He also reported on
WADA’s efforts to convince governments to match the additional IOC fund.
2) The sports calendar
The participants agreed on the creation of a Sports Calendar online database for the
coordination of the scheduling of sports competitions at a global level, agreeing to a
project to compile a comprehensive universal spring calendar of current events in
order to find the best options for planning sports competitions at a global level, in
particular when proposals for new events arise.
3) Autonomy and good governance
The participants noted with satisfaction the good results already achieved by the
Working Group on Good Governance established at the last summit meeting, and
encouraged the IOC to continue its good work.
A proposal was also discussed to implement an intelligence system to monitor
conflicts, for the benefit of the Olympic Movement.
Finally, the participants agreed on the process of creating ad-hoc task forces
to resolve specific conflicts.
This article was republished with permission from Karl-Heinz Huba, the editor and
publisher of the Sport Intern.