IOC Executive Board meeting concludes with key decisions to protect sports integrity
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board (EB) today ended its two-day meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, with several decisions on institutional matters and in the interest of protecting the integrity of sport and its athletes.
The IOC EB expressed major concerns regarding the current situation within the International Boxing Association (AIBA), and stressed the need to protect the sport and the athletes as the necessary steps are taken by the federation to address the current issues.
The Board identified several specific requirements to be met by AIBA, particularly in the areas of governance, financial matters, anti-doping, judging and refereeing. AIBA is expected to deliver a full report by the end of January 2018 on the actions taken to address these issues. Until the required actions have been fully addressed by the federation, the IOC has decided to withhold any future financial contributions to AIBA with immediate effect.
In the meantime, the IOC will continue to liaise with AIBA on the necessary technical details for the preparation of next year's Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires.
Regarding the inclusion of weightlifting on the Olympic programme for Paris 2024, the Executive Board decided that the status remains unchanged, and that the sport's inclusion is subject to the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) further demonstrating that it has fulfilled certain conditions.
The federation has put in place plans to address the serious incidence of doping in the sport, and while the IOC has taken note of these plans, it wishes to see them applied to assess their effectiveness. A further report on the implementation of the required actions from the IWF is expected by mid-June 2018 to allow the IOC EB to follow up in its July 2018 meeting.
The IOC will also liaise with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) for more information on how the wider culture of doping is being addressed in high-risk countries to support the actions being taken in weightlifting. In turn, the IOC will carry out further re-analysis of the stored samples from London 2012, with an emphasis on weightlifting.
Other decisions
The IOC EB confirmed that the election of Jiří Kejval (CZE) as a new Individual Member, originally proposed to the IOC Session in Lima in September, and then postponed, will take place in PyeongChang next February.
Proposals for changes of status for two IOC Members were also approved and will be put forward to the IOC Session. The proposals are for the status of Uğur Erdener (TUR) to be changed from Member representing an International Federation to Individual Member, and for that of Pierre-Olivier Beckers-Vieujant (BEL) to be changed from Member representing a National Olympic Committee to Individual Member.
The IOC and the Olympic Movement benefit significantly from Prof. Erdener's extensive medical and scientific expertise. Currently there is no Individual IOC Member in Turkey.
The IOC would also like to ensure that, by becoming an Individual Member, Baron Beckers-Vieujant can complete his mandate as the Chair of the IOC Coordination Commission for the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad, Paris 2024.