Several members of the International Olympic Committee, meeting in Bombay for the 141st session, demanded on Sunday an extension of the presidency of Thomas Bach beyond 2025, which involves modifying the texts of the body. “We absolutely must maintain the leadership that you have shown at the head of this organization,” said the Dominican Luis Mejia Oviedo to the German leader, followed by the Paraguayan Camilo Perez Moreira.
On the first day of the session which will end on Tuesday, this proposal involving amending the Olympic Charter first came from the Algerian Mustapha Berraf, president of the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (ACNOA), supported by Djiboutian Aïcha Garad Ali. More nuanced, the Japanese Morinari Watanabe, president of the International Gymnastics Federation, certainly praised the “genius” of Thomas Bach – even telling him “I love you, Mr. President” – but recalled the issues of governance of sports organizations.
“Regarding the extension of your mandate, I pay attention to the type of image that we can give around the world,” he noted, recalling the “corruption problems” which have tarnished the reputation of certain sports organizations “in the past”, an allusion in particular to the scandals of Fifa when its president Sepp Blatter was serving a fifth term. The Olympic Charter, which serves as the Constitution of the international sports movement, imposes a limit of two mandates on the presidency of the IOC, with an initial lease of eight years followed by a possible renewal for four years.
Olympic team foil champion at the 1976 Montreal Olympics and then lawyer, Thomas Bach was appointed head of the Lausanne organization in 2013 then re-elected in 2021, and the 69-year-old leader will therefore in principle have to leave his position in 2025 . “You touched my heart. I always appreciate the value of this friendship, this support and even this love,” declared the Bavarian, saying he was “faithful to the texts” without further details on his intention to extend. A possible modification of the Charter could not take place during this general assembly in Bombay: it requires to be included in the agenda of the session at least 30 days before, and to be submitted to the executive commission, recalled the vice-president of the IOC, the Australian John Coates, implicitly referring the question to 2024 at the earliest.
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