Reform and innovation were key themes of the largest ever ANOC General Assembly in Washington. Summarizing the week of meetings of all the world’s NOCs, the ACNO President Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah stressed ANOC’s full support for Olympic Agenda 2020 and emphasised the changes that the organisation itself is undergoing. Sheikh Ahmad outlined his support for the proposal which emerged from this month’s Olympic Summit meeting in Lausanne to introduce an independent doping system. He also called on all NOCs to operate under the principles of good governance in line with the Olympic Charter. In order to assist in this regard, ANOC approved the proposal from the ANOC Modernisation Follow Up Commission to include rules for good governance and ethics in the ANOC Constitution.
“This week has been busy but very productive. This is an important time not just for ANOC but for the whole Olympic Movement. It has been very constructive having all the NOCs together to discuss our key priorities and this is exactly why we made our General Assemblies an annual event. ANOC is completely aligned with IOC President Thomas Bach and the IOC and we are working hard with our NOCs to make sure that we change and reform for the benefit of the Olympic Movement,” said the ANOC President. “We have a lot of great experience and expertise among our NOC family and we are trying to maximise this potential. We have heard many excellent ideas and reports this week on the ways that we can reform and promote good governance and best practices. I am confident that working together with all stakeholders in the Olympic Family we are moving towards a brighter future.”
The ANOC General Assembly unanimously approved the selection of San Diego as the host city of the inaugural ANOC World Beach Games in 2017. The ANOC President announced that a representative from the ANOC Youth Commission would be included in the ANOC Events Working Group to ensure that young people’s interests were well represented in the Working Group.
The IOC provided an update on the implementation of Olympic Agenda 2020, with a specific focus on the Olympic Channel and the commercial benefits it will bring NOCs, and the Olympic Marketing Seminars, which have been organised for NOCs in collaboration between the IOC, ANOC and Olympic Solidarity.
During the General Assembly, each of the Continental Associations made presentations, with a focus on the successful Continental Games each has held over the last 14 months. In addition, ANOC Secretary General Gunilla Lindberg, ANOC auditor Richard Peterkin and Olympic Solidarity all delivered reports. The chairs of the ANOC Commissions and Working Groups gave their latest progress reports and recommendations on initiatives which should be implemented to improve the support ANOC provides its NOCs. There were also reports, among others, from the upcoming Olympic Games Organising Committees, WADA and CAS.
Finally, it was announced that next year’s General Assembly, due to be hosted in Rio de Janeiro in April, would be moved to Qatar in November 2016. This decision was made due to the limited time between the General Assembly in Washington D.C. and the proposed General Assembly in Rio in April and because moving the meeting to after Rio 2016 would allow ANOC to honour athletes from those Games at the third edition of the ANOC Awards.
Reprinted by Courtesy of Sport Intern, the international inside World Sports news letter.