IOC elects two new Members on final day of 128th Session
Senegal Olympic Committee President Mamadou Diagna Ndiaye and United World Wrestling President Nenad Lalovic were elected as new Members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) today, the last day of the 128th IOC Session in Kuala Lumpur.
In a presentation by the Chair of the IOC Members Election Commission, HRH the Princess Royal, it was reported that the Commission is working on a new procedure for the recruitment of IOC Members based on the Olympic Agenda 2020 recommendations. The Members Election Commission will meet in November 2015 to finalise the new procedure.
To address the falling number of representatives from Summer International Federations and from Africa, however, the Commission proposed the election of Ndiaye (SEN) and Lalovic (SRB).
Fourteen Members were re-elected en bloc: HSH Prince Albert II (MON); Syed Shahid Ali (PAK); Valeriy Borzov (UKR); Ottavio Cinquanta (ITA); Nawal El Moutawakel (MAR); René Fasel (SUI); Patrick Hickey (IRL); Willi Kaltschmitt Luján (GUA); Gunilla Lindberg (SWE); HRH the Grand Duke of Luxembourg (LUX); Irena Szewinska (POL); Ching-Kuo Wu (TPE); Patrick Baumann (SUI); and Rita Subowo (INA).
Gunilla Lindberg was also re-elected as a Member of the IOC Executive Board.
The Session extended the age limit of José Perurena (ESP) for four years, for as long as he remains President of the International World Games Association. The decision was in line with Olympic Agenda 2020, which also calls for a strengthening of cooperation with other sports organisations and other event organisers in particular.
Honorary Members Six long-standing IOC Members whose mandates come to end this year were elected as IOC Honorary Members: Patrick S. Chamunda (ZAM); James L. Easton (USA); Julio César Maglione (URU); Lambis V. Nikolaou (GRE); Olegario Vázquez Raña (MEX); and Vitaly Smirnov (RUS).
Speaking about IOC Doyen Smirnov, IOC President Thomas Bach said: “All of us in the Olympic Movement have been privileged to witness his strong dedication and commitment to our values. For over 40 years within the IOC, he has never failed in his tasks as an IOC Member and Doyen. He is a great Olympic leader. His contribution to our Movement cannot be overestimated.”
Five of the six Honorary Members were awarded the Olympic Order (Olegario Vázquez Raña had previously received the Olympic Order in 1986). Olympic Orders were also awarded posthumously to Peter Tallberg (FIN) and Reynaldo González López (CUB), who passed away this year while active IOC Members.
The 129th IOC Session is scheduled to take place in Rio de Janeiro on 2 to 4 and 21 August 2016.