From Games on five continents to digital change, IOC candidates unveil plans
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IOC presidency candidate Sebastian Coe speaking during a press conference in Switzerland on Jan 30, following his presentation to fellow IOC members.
PHOTO: REUTERS
LAUSANNE – The seven candidates for the most powerful job in global sport – the presidency of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) – unveiled their plans and vision for the Games in a brief presentation to the IOC membership on Jan 30.
From a Games held simultaneously across five continents to the need for quick digital change to keep up with the times, the priorities of candidates varied in the 15 minutes each was allowed to address the IOC members behind closed doors in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The members, who on Jan 30 were not allowed to ask any questions, will elect a new Olympic leader – to replace outgoing president Thomas Bach – for an eight-year term on March 30 at their session in Greece.
“The Olympics to be held on five continents at the same time. To offer greater potential for broadcasters and commercial opportunity,” Morinari Watanabe, International Gymnastics Federation chief and presidential candidate, told a press conference following his presentation.
The others include athletics chief and former Olympic champion Sebastian Coe; two-time Olympic swimming gold medallist and Zimbabwe’s Sports Minister Kirsty Coventry; as well as Spaniard Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr, son of the late former IOC president.
International cycling chief David Lappartient; Prince Feisal Al Hussein of Jordan; Olympic newcomer and multimillionaire Johan Eliasch, who heads the International Ski Federation; and Watanabe complete the line-up of candidates.
“I felt very good in the room. It is for them (members) to decide whether I touched the right fibres,” Samaranch, who among other things wants a new bid system for cities, told a press conference following his presentation.
While Lappartient said he would like the Games to be hosted by an African nation, Prince Feisal wanted the return of boxing on the Los Angeles 2028 Games programme after the International Boxing Association was stripped of its Olympic recognition by the IOC over governance problems.
It is difficult to predict the outcome of the vote with no clear front runner, unlike in 2013 when Bach as overwhelming favourite was first elected.
Los Angeles will host the 2028 Summer Games, while Brisbane will stage the 2032 edition.
The IOC’s finances are robust, with US$7.3 billion (S$9.9 billion) of revenues already secured for the years 2025 to 2028 and US$6.2 billion for 2029 to 2032, but it also saw three top sponsors – Toyota, Bridgestone and Panasonic – terminate their contracts in 2024.
Several of the candidates touched on the need to review the Olympic body’s commercial structure.
“I am standing because I believe I have a proven track record and experience to deliver. I know what it takes to lead and drive change. This is not a popularity contest,” said businessman Eliasch.
Coventry, the sole female candidate and the only one from Africa, said she was not getting any favourable treatment or support from Bach, a former Olympic fencing champion, despite being long seen as his preferred choice.
“As fellow athletes, we share a lot of common ideas and philosophies. I do firmly believe he is being very fair to all candidates,” she said.
Coe, meanwhile, told an online media round table, hours before his presentation, that his decision to offer prize money
World Athletics announced its prize money decision unilaterally ahead of the Paris Games without consulting either the IOC or other international sports federations.
The decision angered the IOC and some federations which opposed such a move, saying not all athletes were benefiting from it. World Athletics has said it will offer prize money to all medallists in the sport at the 2028 Olympics.
“We made the judgment about prize money because we felt it was in the best interest of our sport,” said the Briton, twice a 1,500m Olympic champion.
“In hindsight, I should have done it differently and I am ready to hold my hands up. I did apologise (to other Olympic sports federations). Not about the prize money... but, in hindsight, I would have done it a different way.”
Coe said, if elected, he would involve members more and not just within the powerful executive board. Under current president Bach, it is the executive board which takes most key decisions, with the members all but rubber-stamping them.
“Everywhere. Absolutely everywhere,” Coe said on where he would involve members.
“At the moment, we don’t have the structures to get the best out of some very smart people.”
He added that of the 100-plus members, which include entrepreneurs, billionaires, athletes and royalty among others, his own research showed 38 per cent were Olympians, 33 per cent had solid business careers, while 11 per cent had held top government jobs in their countries.
“We are sitting there with an asset that I think is at best untapped, at worst neglected. No organisation can sit with that kind of talent on the backbenches,” the 68-year-old said. REUTERS
