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≡ EXEC BOARD MEETING ≡
The International Olympic Committee Executive Board approved Wednesday a series of proposals to the Olympic Charter to change the way the Olympic program of sports and events is structured, selected and organized.
President Kirsty Coventry (ZIM) explained, with the help of Olympic Program Commission chair Karl Stoss (AUT), a rather painstaking process of placing “disciplines” – a related group of one or more events using a common venue, such as swimming, diving and water polo as part of aquatics – as the building blocks of the Olympic program and not “sports” with the disciplines to be included to be determined later. In specific:
● Seven years out from an Olympic Games, the list of disciplines would be agreed by the IOC Session.
● Five years out, any added sports from the organizing committee would be considered and then approved by the Session.
● Three years out, the list of events and the athletes quotas would be considered and approved by the Session.
Further, a new process of selecting disciplines would be introduced:
● Disciplines included in the Host City Contract would start as “Incumbent Disciplines” and others would be “Candidate Disciplines.”
● All disciplines will be reviewed, graded and considered independently.
● The disciplines to be selected will be – ostensibly – those with the highest grades and within the capacity of the organizing committee to handle. Those not selected would become “Candidate Disciplines” for the next Games.
Coventry stressed that this process is needed by the International Federations in order to understand how they might move into the Games and try to return if excluded from a specific Games. Coventry stated again that there are 36 sports for Los Angeles 2028 and there will not be as many for Brisbane 2032.
These changes will be presented to the Extraordinary IOC Session on 24 June for approval, allowing the process of finalizing the Brisbane 2032 program to be confirmed in a step-by-step manner.
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Coventry was asked about the furor over her comments opposing prize money at the Olympic Games and acknowledging the tempest, was clear that her view has been and remains, “at the Olympic Games, I feel that we have a broader responsibility to try and find ways to directly support every Olympic athlete that comes to the Games.”
That would speak well to an honorarium, which has been increasingly discussed. Coventry also noted that she fully supports prize money in events staged by International Federations, regional confederations and so on. But not at the Olympic Games.
She was also asked about the current, strained situation at the FIFA World Cup amid the refusal of entry into the U.S. for Somali referee Omar Artan, Iranian officials, media and fans. She noted that there were discussions on this with the LA28 organizers and the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee at last week’s Coordination Commission meeting, adding:
“Of course, we are following everything that is happening daily. I am confident that in two years, we will be able to overcome a number of the challenges that the World Cup are facing right now. But I also think that takes collaboration and learning.”
It was underscored that LA28 already has a dedicated team working on access to the U.S., with an office already established in Washington, D.C.
Coventry said she does plan to attend some of the matches, but with no defined plans right now.
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