World athletics chief Sebastian Coe and 6 others are among the many prime contenders for subsequent yr’s IOC presidency election.
| Photograph Credit score: Reuters
World athletics chief Sebastian Coe, multi-millionaire and Olympic newcomer Johan Eliasch and Zimbabwe’s Sports activities Minister Kirsty Coventry are amongst seven candidates for subsequent yr’s Worldwide Olympic Committee presidency election, the IOC mentioned on Monday (September 16, 2024).
IOC vp Juan Antonio Samaranch, son of the late former IOC president, worldwide biking chief David Lappartient, Prince Feisal Al Hussein of Jordan and worldwide gymnastics federation head Morinari Watanabe are additionally within the operating to succeed present president Thomas Bach.
The 70-year-old German is stepping down subsequent yr after 12 years on the helm. The election will likely be held on the IOC session in historical Olympia, Greece in March 2025.
The IOC, with 111 members presently, is answerable for the Olympic Video games and the multi-billion greenback business linked to the world’s largest multi-sports occasion.
Bach’s departure comes with the organisation in a financially sturdy place, having secured $7.3 billion for the years 2025-28 and $6.2 billion already in offers for 2029-2032.
The president is elected to an eight-year first time period with the potential of a second time period of 4 years, if re-elected.
Coe, 67, solely joined the IOC in 2020 after a rocky relationship between World Athletics and the IOC over Coe’s ban of Russian monitor and discipline athletes virtually a decade in the past following the nation’s doping scandal.
A former Olympic champion with a wealth of expertise within the sports activities world, Coe was beforehand head of the London 2012 Video games and the British Olympic Affiliation. He’s additionally a former Conservative Member of Parliament.
Coventry, 41, is the one girl operating for president and the previous Olympic swimming champion, who’s Zimbabwe’s most embellished Olympian, may turn out to be not solely the primary feminine president but additionally the primary from Africa.
All IOC presidents have been males, with eight of the 9 from Europe and one from america.
The 62-year-old Eliasch, head of the Worldwide Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS), solely joined the IOC in July, with the Swedish-born British businessman’s candidacy a shock for some.
Prince Feisal, 60, is a member of the IOC govt board, having joined the organisation in 2010, whereas Spaniard Samaranch, with appreciable IOC expertise in his six years as vp, headed the coordination fee for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.
UCI chief Lappartient has been a quickly rising determine throughout the sports activities world after becoming a member of the IOC in 2022.
The Frenchman is also answerable for esports throughout the IOC, having helped seal a 12-year cope with Saudi Arabia earlier this yr for the Olympic esports Video games.
Japanese businessman Watanabe, 65, has headed the gymnastics federation (FIG) since 2016, having been re-elected twice since.
Printed – September 16, 2024 05:50 pm IST
