As relations between SportAccord and Olympic sports federations continue to deteriorate, SportAccord’s president Marius Vizer has requested meetings with the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) and the president of the International Olympic Committee, Dr. Thomas Bach.
The meeting requests are a response to a letter from ASOIF president Francesco Ricci Bitti sent Vizer yesterday, in which he said ASOIF was suspending relations because SportAccord is not necessary for Olympic sports.
“In order to define the way forward and relieve pressure from the IFs, I have decided to confirm meeting dates with ASOIF and have launched a meeting proposal with President Bach, a meeting which I believe needs to be held for the benefit and the unity of the Sports Movement,” Vizer said in a statement.
HOST CITY contacted ASOIF’s director Andrew Ryan, who confirmed that a meeting with Vizer is being considered.
“We have had a response proposing dates; we’ve got to now see which dates we can find time to get together,” Ryan told HOST CITY.
“We suspended our relations with them and now we have to sit together and discuss what the future holds.
“The letter makes the ASOIF position very clear; we can’t in any way make it more clear. At the moment there’s nothing more to say. Everything that needs to be said was put in the letter yesterday.”
Whether IOC president Bach will want to meet with Vizer, who criticised him publicly a month ago at SportAccord Convention in Sochi, remains to be seen.
“We read Mr. Vizer’s comments and press release in the media. The IOC President has responded directly to this letter before making any public comment,” and IOC spokesperson told HOST CITY.
In his statement, Vizer said “I look forward to open and honest discussions which are for the benefit of sport. I hope to have positive discussions which will lead to tangible solutions.”
Since SportAccord Convention, ten summer Olympic sports federations and their primary representative body, ASOIF, have suspended their engagement with SportAccord.
Despite the exodus of Olympic sports federations, Vizer said the number of applications for SportAccord membership has actually increased over the last month.
SportAccord is the union of Olympic and non-Olympic international federations.
“SportAccord continues and will continue to provide services to empower the International Federations and to defend their interests,” Vizer said.
Tag: IOC
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ASOIF stands by its letter as SportAccord seeks unity
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IOC suspends recognition of SportAccord
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) suspended its recognition of SportAccord on Sunday, saying it is ready to discuss restructured representation with the organisation’s stakeholders.
The IOC had recognised and worked with SportAccord, the “umbrella group” for Olympic and non-Olympic sports federations, for many years.
Relationships between the two organisations have deteriorated since SportAccord president Marius’ Vizer’s criticism of IOC president Thomas Bach’s Agenda 2020 programme of reform at SportAccord Convention in April.
Many international federations (IFs) of Olympic and non-Olympic sports have since left SportAccord.
Despite Vizer’s resignation last week, the IOC has withdrawn its recognition of SportAccord.
“The IOC will continue its ongoing and direct relationship with the IFs and other members of the Olympic Movement,” the IOC said in a statement issued during an executive board meeting in Lausanne.
“We encourage and support them in all the initiatives being taken to restructure their representation following the serious internal problems of SportAccord.”
“We have been in contact with many of the IFs and their representative bodies in the last days and we have been advised that they want to take some measures in this respect.
“We would like to invite the representatives of different groups to further discuss this issue and to come to an agreement among all stakeholders.
“We will first wait for their deliberations and consultations to conclude, and we are ready to support them and ready to invite the representatives of the different groups, including the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) and the Association of International Olympic Winter Sports Federations (AIOWF), the Association of Recognised International Sports Federations (ARISF), the Alliance of Independent Members of Sport Accord (AIMS) and the International World Games Association (IWGA), to discuss the restructuring of their agreement for a common approach.”
SportAccord has historically provided support to IFs to ensure the integrity of their sports – a role that the IOC will take up directly during SportAccord’s current circumstances.
“In the meantime, we do not want the clean athletes to suffer in any way from this vacuum. We are offering the IFs concerned all the services and advice in the fight against doping which have been offered so far by SportAccord and financed by the IOC and WADA.
“We will be making the same offer with regard to good governance as well as on match-fixing and related corruption, and the IOC is ready to provide this support directly. We must ensure that there is not a vacuum during this ongoing process.
“Like many members of SportAccord, we are suspending our recognition and we will withhold our funding until these questions are answered and an agreement between the stakeholders has been reached.
“We are awaiting the outcome of the consultations and, when the time is right, we would like to invite these stakeholders here to discuss how services can best be provided in the future to the above-mentioned organisations.”
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Tokyo 2020 shortlists eight sports for Olympics
Climbing, surfing and roller sports are among eight sports left in contention to feature in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
The Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee has shortlisted the following IOC-recognised International Federations (IFs) proposing events to be considered for inclusion in the Games: World Baseball Softball Confederation; World Bowling; World Karate Federation; International Roller Sports Federation; International Federation of Sport Climbing; World Squash Federation; International Surfing Association; and the International Wushu Federation.
The organising committee will propose one or more of events proposed by these eight federations. The primary selection criteria are that the additional events must “serve as a driving force to promote the Olympic Movement and its values, with a focus on youth appeal” and “add value to the Games by engaging the Japanese population and new audiences worldwide, reflecting the Tokyo 2020 Games vision.”
The following sports are no longer in contention: air sports; American football; billiards; bowls; bridge; chess; dancesport; floorball; flying disc; korfball; netball; orienteering; polo; racquetball; sumo; tug war; underwater sports; waterski and wakeboard.
In the next phase of the process, the shortlisted federations are invited to submit further details by 22 July 2015. The organising committee will interview the federations in Tokyo on 7-8 August 2015 before make a decision on which event(s) to propose to the IOC in September 2015.
Since the IOC’s approval of Olympic Agenda 2020 last December, hosts of the Games are able to propose one or more events to add to the IOC’s sports programme.
The final decision will be made at the 129th IOC Session in Rio in August 2016.
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Eurosport wins all rights to screen Olympics in Europe
In a historic deal valued at EUR 1.3bn, Discovery, the owner of Eurosport, has been awarded the rights to broadcast the Olympic Games from 2018 to 2024 across all media platforms in all European countries, excluding Russia.
The rights, which were issued after a competitive tender process, extend to the development of the IOC’s planned Olympic TV Channel.
“This is a historic partnership, innovative and ground-breaking on a number of fronts,” David Zaslav, president and CEO of Discovery Communications told journalists in a press conference.
“We can reach more than 700m people across Europe. This agreement will bring the Olympic Games to more viewers on more screens than ever before.”
According to IOC President Thomas Bach, a major deal-breaker was the broadcaster’s ability to reach young people via digital platforms.
“It is the first time one single media company has acquired all the rights across Europe,” said president Bach.
“This agreement concerns all the different platforms, so Discovery is the real gatekeeper for all these rights.
“This agreement allows us, in a very special and particular way, to address youth on the platforms they use. We can reach out to them directly through these platforms.
“It will go from the telephones, over digital channels and many more. This is what made it very attractive for the IOC.”
Discovery is confident it will recoup the heavy price tag over time.
“This investment is consistent with our prudent approach to investing in content,” said Zaslav.
“The EUR 1.3bn purchase price, to be phased in over time, will include the rights to four Olympic Games across all platforms, including the Olympic archives, and aligns with our strategy of acquiring world class IP to the Discovery Company.
“And over the term of the contract, we expect the Olympic Games to be cash flow positive.”
The deal gives Discovery the exclusive rights to broadcast the most popular entertainment property in the world.
“There is no more exciting property than the Olympic Games,” said Zaslav.
“The live, must-have and universal appeal of the Olympic Games make it unique and singular as a programming event.
“The global reach, the fan engagement, the thrilling stories, the volume of content, the integrity of the brand – there is no rival in sheer global or mass appeal.
“Our ability to develop and follow the same characters and athletes all year, combined with access and rights to the Olympic archives, makes possible for the first time a programming strategy that can burn the Olympic flame with stories and content 365 days a year.”
The agreement includes cooperation on the IOC’s Olympic Channel, which is planned as part of the IOC’s “Olympic Agenda 2020” process of reform.
“We are very happy that as part of the agreement we will cooperate with regard to the Olympic channel, which will be another tool to reach out to youth and to keep the awareness about Olympic sport and the Olympic values high throughout the year,” said Bach.
A launch date has not yet been set for the Olympic Channel. Timo Lumme, Managing Director, IOC Television and Marketing Services said, “This is not about speed, it is about quality and therefore we have not given a deadline for the start of the Olympic Channel.
“But today, this another milestone in the development of the Olympic channel, because with this agreement we can look forward to having the Olympic channel extended to other platforms and having a roll-out to ensure the whole continent.”
Eurosport already has agreements in place with many Olympic sports federations.
“As we look at the assets that we have, we have a real advantage as we sit down with the IOC to build the Olympic Channel,” said Zaslav.
“Almost half of what’s on Eurosport are Olympic sports that we have rights to for the next several years already.”
The agreement requires Discovery to broadcasting a minimum of 200 hours of the Olympic Games and 100 hours of the Olympic Winter Games on free-to-air television during the Games period, but it will sub-license a portion of the rights in many markets across Europe.
“The flexibility to sublicense rights across territories will open up strategic partnership opportunities with a wide range of broadcasters and distributors on how best to exploit these and bring more coverage to more people on more platforms throughout the European continent,” said Zaslav.
This aspect of the deal is somewhat controversial as it introduces a middleman between the IOC and domestic broadcasters, who are seen to have played a crucial role in extending the reach of the Olympic Games.
“Of course they [European national broadcasters] have played a significant role in spreading and broadcasting the Games,” said Bach.
“But Eurosport has also contributed to this in the past, so it is not the public broadcasters alone.”
The domestic broadcasters in Great Britain and France will retain the rights they have already been allocated to broadcast the 2018 and 2020 Games.
“In Great Britain, you have the situation that the BBC has the rights for 2020 so there is ample time before 2022 and 2024 to have discussions with Discovery about their cooperation,” said Bach.
“So this is not excluding anybody, but it is showing a new and broader approach to Olympic broadcasting by incorporating the Olympic Channel in a very intelligent and effective way and by offering the great experience of Discovery and Eurosport to work on their multiple platforms.”
Juan Antonio Samaranch, IOC Executive Board Member and delegate IOC Member for European broadcast rights said: “Discovery and Eurosport will ensure the exposure of the Olympic Games through their own TV channels and media platforms, and, where relevant, by reaching sublicensing partnerships with other broadcasters in the various territories.”
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Former IOC DG to lead FIFA reform
FIFA has appointed Dr François Carrard, former IOC director general and coordinator of the IOC 2000 Reform Commission to chair its 2016 Reform Committee.
As an independent chairman, Carrard will oversee FIFA’s process of reform that has been initiated in response to investigations into corruption.
As Director General of the International Olympic Committee, Dr Carrard guided the IOC through its own governance reforms in the wake of the bidding process for the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in 2002. An internationally renowned Swiss lawyer, Dr Carrard brings specific experience of the challenges faced by global sports organisations such as FIFA.
“It is vital for the future of global football to restore the integrity and reputation of its governing body,” Carrard said.
“As the independent chairman, I am committed to delivering the necessary package of credible reforms, working with representatives from within football and wider society. To that end, I will establish an independent advisory board, made up of representatives from outside football, to support the work of the committee and provide an additional layer of independent expertise.”
Carrard was appointed after consultation with the six football confederations, each of which have appointed two representatives to the 2016 FIFA Reform Committee.
FIFA President Blatter said: “We believe Dr Carrard is the right person to drive this reform process forward as an independent chairman with a proven track record in governance reforms. We are confident that he can help FIFA to strengthen its governance structures in a credible and meaningful way. FIFA’s commercial partners will also play a key role in the reforms, and we will be discussing with them the most productive way to include their views.”
The 2016 Reform Committee will present its comprehensive proposals to the FIFA Congress in February.
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IOC allocates US$2m immediately to help refugees
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has created a two million dollar fund that will be made available to National Olympic Committees (NOCs) for programmes focused on refugees.
“We have all been touched by the terrible news and the heartbreaking stories in the past few days. With this terrible crisis unfolding across the Middle East, Africa and Europe, sport and the Olympic Movement wanted to play its part in bringing humanitarian help to the refugees. We made a quick decision that we needed to take action and to make this fund available immediately,” IOC president Thomas Bach said on Friday.
“We have a long term relationship with the United Nations and with the UNHCR and we draw on their help and expertise. We know through experience that sport can ease the plight of refugees, many of them young people and children, be they in the Middle East, Africa, Europe or in other parts of the world. Our thoughts are with the many refugees risking their lives and the lives of their families to escape danger.”
The fund is made up of one million dollars directly from the IOC and a further one million from Olympic Solidarity, which is an IOC commission that organises assistance for NOCs, particularly those with the greatest needs, by redistributing broadcast rights through programmes offered to all NOCs.
NOCs and other interested parties will be asked to submit projects to the IOC for funding.
“Because of the nature of the crisis the assessment of projects and the distribution of funds will be carried out extremely quickly,” said Bach.
“We are able to work on the ground with our partners in the National Olympic Committees and the expert agencies to get help to where it is needed most urgently.”
The IOC already works with a number of United Nations agencies to help refugees around the world. In April 2014 the two organisations signed a historic agreement aimed at strengthening collaboration.
The IOC has been working with the UNHCR for two decades and has already seen thousands of refugees benefit from sports programmes and equipment donated by the IOC.
Last year IOC Honorary President Jacques Rogge completed his first mission as Special Envoy of the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General for Youth Refugees and Sport.
With the goal of raising awareness on the conditions of youth refugees and the impact of sport for their well-being, Rogge visited Syrian refugees currently living in the UN camp of Azraq, located in the desert 100 kilometres east of the Jordanian capital, Amman. The camp currently hosts more than 5,000 shelters housing some 18,000 refugees.
Since 2004, the IOC and UNHCR have organised a “Giving is Winning” programme. This global solidarity campaign allows athletes, officials and sponsors of the Olympic Games, National Olympic Committees , International and National Federations, and other Olympic Movement stakeholders to donate tens of thousands of clothing items to help refugees . The campaign has already collected over 170,000 items of clothing, which have reached refugees in 23 countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe.
In 2013 and 2014, the IOC, Worldwide Olympic Partner Samsung and the UNHCR joined forces to distribute IOC Sports Kits to more than 180,000 internally displaced young people living in refugee camps in 20 countries throughout Asia, Africa and Latin America. -
IOC suspends former IAAF president Lamine Diack
The IOC Executive Board on Tuesday suspended the honorary IOC membership of Lamine Diack, former president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) following the publication of a World Anti-Doping Report on Monday.
“The Independent Commission’s Report contains a series of findings that will shock and appal athletes and sports fans worldwide, and indeed many issues that highlight very current deficiencies with the anti-doping system in Russia,” said WADA President and IOC Vice President Sir Craig Reedie on Monday, during Host City 2015 conference in Glasgow.
Following the publication of the report, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said it was “closely monitoring the situation” and expects the IAAF and WADA to “consider all necessary action to be taken to protect the clean athletes and rebuild trust”.
The IOC’s Executive Board on Tuesday confirmed the proposal of the IOC Ethics Commission to provisionally suspend Mr. Lamine Diack, the former President of IAAF, from his honorary membership of the IOC.
In a statement, the IOC said it has asked the IAAF to initiate disciplinary procedures against all athletes, coaches and officials who have participated in the Olympic Games and are accused of doping in the report of the Independent Commission.
“With its zero-tolerance policy against doping, following the conclusion of this procedure, the IOC will take all the necessary measures and sanctions with regard to the withdrawal and reallocation of medals and as the case may be exclusion of coaches and officials from future Olympic Games,” the statement said.
The news follows WADA’s suspension of its accreditation of the Moscow Antidoping Center. The laboratory is now restricted from carrying out any WADA-related anti-doping activities including all analyses of urine and blood samples.
The IOC said it has no reason to question the credibility of the results of the anti-doping tests carried out at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, but will retain all the doping samples for ten years and retest samples “in an appropriate way should substantial doubts arise. In any case, the IOC may retest samples once new scientific techniques become available”.
“While the contents of the Report are deeply disturbing, the investigation is hugely positive for the clean athlete as it contains significant recommendations for how WADA and its partners in the anti-doping community can, and must, take swift corrective action to ensure anti-doping programs of the highest order are in place across the board,” said Sir Craig Reedie.
“WADA is fully committed in its role of leading the charge to protect the rights of clean athletes worldwide.”
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Renewing the trust in sport
As an Olympic medallist, recent developments in some sports are particularly upsetting. What saddens me most as a former athlete is that they erode the trust in the clean athlete. Clean athletes who push themselves day in day out pursuing their dreams see the finger of suspicion pointing at them. This is the very worst ‘side-effect’ of doping.
We must do everything we can to protect these millions of clean athletes around the world. For their sake and for the credibility of sports competition, they have to be protected from doping and corrupting influences. We also have to protect the credibility of sports competition from match-fixing and manipulation. The IOC has created a specific 20-million US dollar fund for the protection of clean athletes. This comes on top of overall international investments of an estimated 500-million US dollars for around 250,000 anti-doping tests a year, among other initiatives. The IOC has a zero-tolerance policy against doping and any kind of manipulation and corruption.
Doped athletes already face a four-year ban from any kind of sports competition for their first infringement. This means an effective ban from the next edition of the Olympic Games. As a young man, I called for life bans even for the first infringement. Unfortunately, such a sanction would not be upheld by any judicial court. But what we can do is making the anti-doping system more independent from sports organisations. In this respect, the IOC took the initiative to ask the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the international authority in the fight against drugs in sport, to consider taking over testing programmes from the international sports federations. The IOC also proposed that the Court of Arbitration of Sports (CAS), the highest judicial body for the sports world, take over all sanctioning of doped athletes.
Zero-tolerance also means all nations and all sports have to be compliant with WADA’s rules. On this front, sport requires the support of governments. Let us not forget that governments have a 50% stake in WADA. Governments need to make sure that their national anti-doping authorities are WADA-compliant. Governments also have to ensure dealers, corrupt doctors and coaches are punished with the full force of the law.
Protecting the clean athlete goes hand in hand with ensuring that the environment in which the athletes operate is safe from corrupting influences. To fight manipulation in sport and specifically match-fixing and illegal betting, the IOC and the International Sport Federations are already working closely with police, betting operators and regulators around the world. Recognizing the international nature of organized crime, the IOC is also engaged with Interpol to safeguard the integrity of sport.
Fighting corruption also means that good governance for sporting organisations is essential. The IOC has put the necessary measures in place since a long time. More recently, the reforms passed in Olympic Agenda 2020 exactly one year ago, ensure internationally recognized standards of governance. As a result, all our accounts are audited at a higher international financial reporting standard (IFRS) and we are publishing everything in our annual report, as is common practise in the corporate world; we have term and age limits for all IOC Members; we have a chief ethics and compliance officer, an audit committee and an independent ethics commission. We have called on and we expect all sports organisations to follow this route. All these measures and others, which are publically available, allow the IOC to distribute over 90% of our revenue – that is $3.25 million each and every day – back to athletes and world sport.
The recent discussions on these issues show the huge significance sport has in our society. Sport has the power to make the world a better place. If these good governance measures are adopted and the zero-tolerance policies are followed by all sport organisations, there is a very bright future for sport. As Nelson Mandela said: “Sport has the power to change the world.” Yes, these are difficult times for sport. But yes, it is also an opportunity to renew the trust in this power of sport to change the world for the better.
This opinion piece by IOC President Thomas Bach is also published on www.olympic.org
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FIFA criminal procedures could affect sport long term, says IOC
The Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Thursday adopted a declaration on good governance in sport in response to growing concerns of sports organisations.
In the declaration, the IOC singled out criminal investigations into FIFA as an area of particular concern that “could affect all sport organisations” for up to five years.
In a statement, the IOC said the Executive Board welcomed the FIFA Executive Committee’s proposals for major reforms, which include term limits.
However, the IOC said its Executive Board “remains concerned with regard to the ongoing criminal procedures in the United States and Switzerland, which according to these authorities could last for another five years.
“Since this could continue to overshadow the credibility of FIFA and affect all sport organisations for such a long time, the IOC EB encourages FIFA to take all necessary measures to clarify and resolve all the pending issues as soon as possible by further engaging with the relevant authorities.”
At a meeting in Lausanne, the IOC Executive Board addressed requests from “a number of sports organisations which feel affected by incidents in some sports organisations and are concerned their reputation is being tarnished by generalisation.”
The IOC declaration proposes a number of measures to develop good governance in sport. “Recent incidents have shown that, in the interest of the credibility of all sports organisations immediate action to reinforce good governance is necessary,” the IOC statetment said.
According to the declaration, the basic principles of good governance, including transparent and democratic decision making processes, financial reporting and auditing according to international standards, publication of financial reports and ethics and compliance rules, etc. will be applied during 2016.
The IOC will initiate an independent audit system of its major subventions to IFs, NOCs and Organising Committees for the Olympic Games (OCOGs) with regard to the financial as well as the good governance aspects. With regard to all other activities of IFs, NOCs and OCOGs, Recommendation 27 of Olympic Agenda 2020 should be applied as from 2016. The IOC, recognising the independence and autonomy of the IFs, appreciates their support for this initiative as expressed in the IOC EB meeting and by setting up a working group on sports governance by the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF).
The IOC has also has asked the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) in Lausanne and its Global Board Centre to undertake research into good governance at the IOC itself. A first assessment by IMD was presented to the Executive Board.
The IOC Executive Board also confirmed its zero tolerance policy toward doping, expressing support for the authority and autonomy of WADA while putting forward a number of proposals to the WADA working group.
These include establishing an independent testing and results management entity, under the leadership of WADA. “Sports organisations should transfer their doping control operations to this new organisation and make the funding available initially at the level of the present investment in the fight against doping. This organisation should also co-ordinate the work of the national anti-doping agencies to ensure a streamlined, efficient and worldwide harmonised anti-doping system. Governments, which are 50 per cent partners of WADA, should support this reform alongside the sports movement, both logistically and financially,” the IOC said.
This entity should include a “professional intelligence gathering unit” to “address issues that may affect the compliance of anti-doping organisations and anti-doping laboratories accredited by WADA, at the earliest possible stage. This would help to make all such institutions compliant at all times and in such a way as to protect the clean athletes worldwide to the same level.”
The IOC declaration also determined that sanctions should be pronounced by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in a centralised way, which would make the system cost-efficient and lead to harmonisation among all sports and all countries. The current right to appeal such sanctions to a different chamber of the CAS would be fully upheld and guaranteed, the IOC said.
The IOC is aiming to have an independent anti-doping system in place from the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang.
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New IOC Director of Public Affairs and Social Development through Sport Department to start in March
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has appointed Philip French as its new Director of Public Affairs and Social Development through Sport Department (PASD), to start work on 1 March.
A British national, French is joining the IOC from the England and Wales Cricket Board where, as Director of Public Policy and International Relations, he was responsible for overseeing the organisation’s strategic development in public affairs and managing key external relationships.
The IOC says it has developed a comprehensive programme using sport as a tool for local socio-economic development and for humanitarian assistance.
“The PASD is central in defining the strategies for the development and implementation of such grassroots and peace projects around the world, as well as for advocating for the integration of sport and physical activity in national and international policies and programmes,” the IOC said in a statement.
“It is also responsible for fostering partnerships with a wide range of organisations specialised in development and humanitarian aid, including the agencies of the United Nations (UN) and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), in a bid to build a better world through sport.”
Before working at the England and Wales Cricket Board, Philip French held the position of Chief Adviser on Sport at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport of the United Kingdom government. With responsibilities ranging from grassroots and elite athlete funding ahead of the Olympic Games London 2012, the National Lottery, broadcasting and gambling, French led on drafting and delivering the government’s key strategic policies on behalf of the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.
Mr French was previously Chief Executive of Supporter Trusts, a British non-profit organisation which aims to provide a platform for fans to influence the running of their clubs, and Director of Public Policy at Premier League, where he had responsibility for public affairs, corporate communications and community development. He previously wrote for the Guardian newspaper and was a consultant to UEFA in the UK.
A graduate in Economics with Government of the London School of Economics and Political Science, Philip French has acquired over his career extensive experience in public affairs, international relations, community development and stakeholder management. He is very well acquainted with the world of sport, from both the media and management sides, and will be a valuable addition to the IOC’s team of directors.
A fan of athletics, football, cricket and tennis, Mr French is also involved in a number of grassroots and charity projects.