IOC Executive Board proposes change to boost athlete representation

According to information collected from National Olympic Committees (NOCs), 162 of them have an Athletes’ Commission (AC). However, not all of these are compliant with the IOC Guidelines relating to the creation of an AC. 

Therefore, during the first day of a three-day meeting this week, the IOC EB agreed to put forward a proposal to the IOC Session in Tokyo to amend the Olympic Charter, clarifying:

- That athlete representatives must be included in NOC general assemblies and NOC executive bodies, and that such athlete representatives are elected by the NOC athletes’ commission that each NOC must establish in accordance with the guidelines issued by the IOC Executive Board.

- That the IOC will communicate to all NOCs that such modification to the Olympic Charter will be proposed to the Session in July and, if approved, they must establish an AC that is fully compliant with the IOC Guidelines by the end of 2022.

- That the IOC AC and IOC administration will continue to work with the NOCs to help them establish compliant ACs.

- That this is fully aligned with Olympic Agenda 2020+5, which specifically aims to strengthen effective athlete representation across the Olympic Movement and to ensure athlete participation in decision-making.

Olympic Motto

After the support declared by the IOC Executive Board in April and a consultation with the IOC Members, new wording for the Olympic motto will be proposed for approval by the IOC Session in Tokyo. “Faster, Higher, Stronger - Together” expresses the aspirations of the Olympic Movement. It is the adaptation of the original motto in Latin, which will translate as “Citius, Altius, Fortius - Communiter”.

NOC of DPRK

The IOC EB decided that the International Federations (IFs) concerned may immediately reallocate any sports quota places obtained by athletes from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 to other NOCs, in accordance with the IFs’ published qualification systems. This decision has been taken now in order to respect the interest of athletes who are next in line and cannot wait any longer.

Changes of nationality

The IOC EB accepted three applications for changes of nationality, granting the requested exemption to the three-year waiting period following the approval by the respective IFs and NOCs.

- Ms Anna BASHTA – Fencing – from Russia to Azerbaijan

- Mr Joseph CHAMPNESS – Football – from Australia to New Zealand

- Mr Omar Gergely SALIM – Taekwondo – from the USA to Hungary