OLYMPICS-IOC/OPENING CEREMONY 'Difficult times in sport', warns Bach as IOC meet in Malaysia

Record ID: 145694

  • Title: OLYMPICS-IOC/OPENING CEREMONY 'Difficult times in sport', warns Bach as IOC meet in Malaysia
  • Date: 30th July 2015
  • Summary: BACH WALKING DOWN FROM STAGE
  • Embargoed: 14th August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Malaysia
  • Country: Malaysia
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA3JO998CBZ69T8EG5XGYN8FONP
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: With world soccer's governing body FIFA embroiled in a corruption scandal, the head of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) sent a sobering reminder to global sports leaders on Thursday (July 30) about their responsibilities.
    In a clear reference to the FIFA scandal, IOC President Thomas Bach devoted part of his opening speech at the 128th IOC Congress in Kuala Lumpur to the importance of transparency and credibility.
    The members of the organization was in Malaysia for the 128th congress, in which they will vote to choose the host cities of 2022 Winter Olympics and 2020 Winter Youth Olympics.
    Chinese vice Premier Liu Yandong and Kazahkstan's Prime Minister Karim Massimov were among the audience, as their countries are going head to head to host the 2022 Winter Games.
    Bach told the audience it was important for the IOC to show transparency in its decision-making process.
    "These are difficult times in sport, as recent events in other sport organizations have all too clearly shown. We live in a world that takes less for granted. People today demand more transparency and want to see concrete steps and results on how we are living up to our values and our responsibility," Bach told the delegates.
    FIFA was thrown into turmoil earlier this year when more than a dozen soccer officials and sports marketing executives were indicted by the United States on bribery, money laundering and wire fraud charges.
    Although FIFA President Sepp Blatter has not been accused of any wrongdoing, his stewardship has been heavily scrutinized and he has since announced he is standing down as boss of the world's most popular game.
    "We know from our own history how long it takes to rebuild credibility and that implementing best practices with regards to good governance and transparency cannot happen overnight," Bach told the Congress.
    "The IOC has already undertaken major efforts 15 years ago to strengthen good governance and transparency. Putting these changes like term limits, age limit and others in place has not been an easy process. But today we see very clearly just how vital these reforms have been for our organization."
    Blatter is also an IOC member but is not attending the 128th Congress.
    Blatter also missed the final of the women's World Cup in Canada and the Under 20s World Cup in New Zealand.
    He was automatically elected to the IOC in 1999 but will lose his position next year when he turns 80, as part of Bach's Olympic 2020 Agenda, in which the new IOC president introduced age limits for members.
    Blatter will be among the first IOC members to lose their spots because of the new rules.
    Bach has also announced that the IOC will publish all its financial details, showing where all its revenues come from and are distributed to, and will separate its audit and finance commissions and appoint a chief ethics officer.
    "Sport does not operate in isolation from the rest of society. We are living in the middle of a modern and diverse society that holds us accountable for what we do," said Bach.
    The IOC was forced to confront its own corruption scandal in 1998 when allegations emerged that some members had accepted bribes in return for voting for Salt Lake City to be awarded the 2002 Winter Olympics.
    Ten members were either expelled or left the organization and the IOC later introduced a range of strict reforms over the bidding process and transparency in the organization.
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