According to the current rules, the president of the International Olympic Committee can serve a maximum of two terms. Now, for example, Africans and South Americans are hoping for a rule change from the IOC.
Several members of the International Olympic Committee want to change the rules related to the duration of the IOC president’s term, so that the German president Thomas Bach could exceptionally continue in his position for a third term. The issue was discussed at the IOC meeting in Mumbai, India, reports the news agencies Reuters and AP.
At the meeting, among others, an Algerian member of the IOC spoke in favor of extending Bach’s presidency Mustapha Berrafseveral South American members, as well as the Japanese president of the International Gymnastics Federation Morinari Watanabe.
– On behalf of the African National Olympic Committees and the African members of the IOC, I propose that we consider the necessary changes so that our president Thomas Bach can continue for one more season. We would better endure these stormy times if we had a chairman who has proven his competence, Berraf said.
According to the current rules, the chairman of the IOC can serve a maximum of two terms, i.e. 12 years. The first season lasts eight years and a possible second season four years. The chairman’s term of office was limited to 12 years in 2001. Before the decision, the Spanish Juan Antonio Samaranch served as chairman for no less than 21 years.
Bach, 69, has not himself pushed for extending the term of office of the chairman or allowing a third term, but said on Sunday that he was taken by the positions of the IOC members. According to Reuters, the IOC plans to address the issue at its next executive committee meeting next summer. Bach did not comment on whether he would be willing to continue as chairman until 2029 or whether he plans to propose a rule change.
Bach was elected chairman from among six candidates in 2013. In the 2021 election, he was unopposed and elected to continue in his position until 2025.
According to the AP news agency, only one member of the IOC, the president of the International Athletics Federation Sebastian Coehas publicly spoken about a possible run for office in the IOC presidential elections.
The Russia issue divides the IOC
During Bach’s ten-year presidency, the IOC has faced several crises, including the Russian doping scandal, the corona pandemic and the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics, as well as Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine, which has largely shut Russia out of international sports.
Bach has publicly hoped that the Russians will also be accepted for next summer’s Olympics, and he is not alone in his opinion. On the other hand, in Europe, Bach’s comments regarding Russian athletes have caused outrage. The Nordic countries and many other European countries have strongly opposed the return of Russia and Belarus to international sports while the war in Ukraine is still ongoing.
At the end of March, the board of the International Olympic Committee recommended that individual athletes from Russia and Belarus be accepted back into international competitions without country codes under certain conditions. However, the recommendation would not yet apply to the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris or the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan.
Bach for example criticize in March, those countries that “do not respect the opinion of the majority of the Olympic movement” on the Russia issue.
In summer Bach said that he dislikes Ukraine for not allowing some of its athletes to participate in the qualifying competitions for the Paris Olympics, in which Russian and Belarusian athletes are participating. Ukrainian athletes boycotted the prestigious judo, fencing and taekwondo competitions, in which Russians and Belarusians could apply for the right to participate as so-called neutral athletes.
Earlier this week, the IOC announced that it had suspended the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), effective immediately. The reason for the decision is that last week the ROC has formalized the sports organizations in the territories it illegally seized from Ukraine as its sub-organizations. However, the decision to shelve the country’s Olympic Committee does not mean that Russian athletes cannot participate in next summer’s Olympics in Paris as neutral athletes.
The IOC meeting in India is discussing the participation of Russians and Belarusians in the Paris Olympics, but the official decision is not yet expected to be published.