2000: The IOC 2000 Commission

Following the scandal related to the election of Salt Lake City as the host city of the 2002 Winter Games, and further to the decision taken by the 108th Session, the IOC 2000 Commission was created.

This Commission was given the mandate of preparing and proposing to the IOC Session all recommendations that it considered appropriate in terms of IOC structure modifications, rules and procedures. The main objective was to address the following three areas: the composition, structure and organisation of the IOC; the role of the IOC; and the designation of Olympic Games host cities.

The IOC 2000 Commission, composed of 82 members and chaired by the IOC President, was structured across three levels: a Plenary Commission, an Executive Committee and three working groups:

• Working group 1, dealing with the “composition, structure and organisation of the IOC”, was chaired by Franco Carraro.

• Working group 2, addressing the “role of the IOC”, was chaired by Thomas Bach.

• Working group 3, looking into the “designation of Olympic Games host cities”, was chaired by Anita L. DeFrantz.

The Commission produced an intermediary report in June 1999, and its final report was released in November 1999. It made 50 recommendations to the IOC in this final report, with recommendations put forward by each of the working groups. At the IOC Session in December 1999, the IOC approved all 50 of the recommendations, which led to a major re-writing of the Olympic Charter, especially regarding the eligibility of IOC Members (inclusion of active athletes and NOC and IF representatives, conditions regarding terms of office, prohibiting visits to candidate cities, etc.), in order to strengthen the principles of independence and universality of the Olympic Movement.