International Olympic Committee

The International Olympic Committee (IOC; in French, Comité international olympique, IOC; in English, International Olympic Committee, IOC) is an organization in charge of promoting Olympism in the world and coordinating the activities of the Olympic Movement. It was created on June 23, 1894 by Baron Pierre de Coubertin in Paris in order to revive the Ancient Olympic Games.

He is in charge of supervising and managing everything related to the Olympic Games. He owns all the rights associated with the Olympic symbols: the flag, the anthem, the motto, the oath and the competition itself. He controls the rights to broadcast the games, advertising and other activities in accordance with the Olympic Charter. On the other hand, it is in charge of selecting the cities that will host the Olympic Games every four years.

History

The first IOC, at the Athens Olympic Games 1896.

The IOC was created by Pierre de Coubertin on June 23, 1894 with Dimitrios Vikelas as its first president. In 2021 its members are made up of 102 active members, 43 honorary members, and one honorary member. The IOC is the supreme authority of the modern Olympic movement throughout the world. In its first integration, twelve countries were represented:

1. Argentina (José Benjamín Zubiaur).
2. Austrian-Bohemia Empire (Jiri Guth-Jarkovsky).
3. Belgium (Maxime de Bousies).
4. United States (William Sloane).
5. France (Ernest F. Callot and Pierre de Coubertin).
6. United Kingdom (C. Herbert Ampfhill and Charles Herbert).
7. Greece (Dimitrios Vikelas).
8. Hungary (Ferenc Kemény).
9. Italy (Mario Luccesi Palli and Andria Carafa).
10. New Zealand (Leonard A. Cuff).
11. Russian Empire (Alexei Dmitrievich Butowski).
12. Sweden (Viktor Gustaf Balck).

The IOC organizes the modern Olympic Games and the Youth Olympic Games, which take place in summer and winter, every four years. The first Summer Olympic Games organized by the IOC were held in Athens, Greece, in 1896; The first Winter Olympic Games was in Chamonix, France, in 1924. Until 1992, both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games were held in the same year. After that year, however, the IOC moved the Winter Olympics to even-numbered years between the Summer Games, to help space out the planning of the two events from each other and improve the financial balance of the IOC, which receives higher revenues. during the Olympic years. The first Summer Youth Olympic Games were held in Singapore in 2010, and the first Winter Youth Olympic Games were held in Innsbruck in 2012.

Former IOC headquarters.

In 2009, the United Nations General Assembly granted Permanent Observer status to the IOC. This decision allows the IOC to participate directly in the United Nations Program and to attend the meetings of the General Assembly of the United Nations in which it can speak. This has provided the possibility to promote the sport to a new level. In addition, in 1993, the UN General Assembly passed a Resolution that further solidified IOC-UN cooperation with the decision to revive the Olympic Truce, adopting a Resolution entitled "Building a better and peaceful world through sport and the Olympic ideal" Calls on Member States to observe the Olympic Truce before each iteration of the Games and to cooperate with the IOC and the International Paralympic Committee in their efforts to use sport as a tool to promote peace, dialogue and reconciliation in areas of conflict during and beyond the period of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

During each proclamation at the Olympic Games, the announcers speak in different languages, French is always spoken first followed by a translation into English and the dominant language of the host nation.

Since 2001, the IOC has had Olympic Broadcasting Services, an agency capable of retransmitting broadcasts of sporting events at games, without necessarily going through a broadcast partner. Its headquarters are in Madrid. On August 21, 2016, during the closing ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, the Olympic Channel was presented.

IOC Directive

Cargo	Name	Country
Chairman	Thomas Bach	GermanyGermany
Vice-Presidents	John Coates	Australia
	Nicole Hoevertsz	ArubaAruba
	Juan Antonio Samaranch Salisachs	SpainSpain
	Being Miang NG	SingaporeSingapore
Director-General	Christophe De Kepper	BelgiumBelgium
Executive members	Robin Mitchell	FiyiFiyi
	Denis Oswald	SwitzerlandSwitzerland
	Nenad Lalovic	SerbiaSerbia
	Ivo Ferriani	ItalyItaly
	Faisal bin Hussein	JordanJordan
	Nawal The Moutawakel	MoroccoMorocco
	Mikaela Cojuangco Jaworski	PhilippinesPhilippines
	Gerardo Werthein	Argentina
	Kristin Kloster Aasen	Norway Norway
	Emma Terho	FinlandFinland

IOC Commissions

Committee	Principal	Country
IOC Athletes Commission	Emma Terho	FinlandFinland
IOC Athlete Environment Commission	Sergey Bubka	Ukraine Ukraine
IOC Audit Committee	Pierre-Olivier Beckers-Vieujant	BelgiumBelgium
Commission on Public Affairs and Social Development through the IOC sport	Luis Alberto Moreno	ColombiaColombia
IOC Legal Affairs Commission	John Coates	Australia
IOC Communication Commission	Anant Singh	South Africa
IOC Coordination Commission for Gangwon 2024 (JOJ)	Zhang Hong	ChinaChina
IOC Coordination Commission for Paris 2024	Pierre-Olivier Beckers-Vieujant	BelgiumBelgium
IOC Coordination Commission for Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo 2026	Sari Essayah	FinlandFinland
IOC Coordination Commission for Dakar 2026 (JOJ)	Kirsty Coventry	ZimbabweZimbabwe
IOC Coordination Commission for Los Angeles 2028	Nicole Hoevertsz	ArubaAruba
IOC Coordination Commission for Brisbane 2032	Kirsty Coventry	ZimbabweZimbabwe
IOC Commission on Culture and Olympic Heritage	Khunying Patama Leeswadtrakul	Thailand
IOC Ethics Commission	Ban Ki-moon	South KoreaSouth Korea
IOC Finance Commission	Ng Ser Miang	SingaporeSingapore
Commission of Future Headquarters of the Olympic Games	Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović	CroatiaCroatia
Future Headquarters Commission of the Winter Olympic Games	Octavian Morariu	Romania Romania
Electoral Commission of IOC Members	Anne of the United Kingdom	United KingdomUnited Kingdom
IOC Marketing Commission	Jiri Kevjal	Czech RepublicCzech Republic
IOC Medical and Scientific Commission	Uğur Erdener	TurkeyTurkey
IOC Olympic Channel Commission	Richard Carrión	Puerto RicoPuerto Rico
IOC Olympic Education Commission	Mikaela Cojuangco Jaworski	PhilippinesPhilippines
IOC Olympic Programme Commission	Karl Stoss	AustriaAustria
IOC Human Resources Commission	Being Miang NG	SingaporeSingapore
IOC Olympic Solidarity Commission	Robin Mitchell	FiyiFiyi
IOC Commission on Sport and Active Society	Sari Essayah	FinlandFinland
IOC Sustainability and Legacy Commission	Alberto II de Monaco	MonacoMonaco
Commission for Women in IOC Sports	Lydia Nsekera	BurundiBurundi
IOC Digital and Technology Commission	Gerardo Werthein	Argentina
IOC Disciplinary Commission	Denis Oswald	SwitzerlandSwitzerland

Organization

Presidents in history

Since 1894, the IOC has had nine presidents:

N.o	Name	Country	Period	Vital honor
1	Dimitrios Vikelas	Greece	1894-1896	N/D
2	Pierre de Coubertin	France	1896-1925	N/D
3	Henri de Baillet-Latour	Belgium	1925-1942	N/D
4	Sigfrid Edström	Sweden	1946-1952	N/D
5	Avery Brundage	United States	1952-1972	1972-1975
6	Michael Morris Killanin	Ireland	1972-1980	1980-1999
7	Juan Antonio Samaranch	Spain	1980-2001	2001-2010
8	Jacques Rogge	Belgium	2001-2013	2013-2021
9	Thomas Bach	Germany	2013-	N/D

IOC Meetings

Exterior of the IOC headquarters in Lausanne.

Since its founding, the IOC has held a series of high-level meetings where the past, present and future of the international Olympic movement have been discussed. These meetings are divided into two types, namely:

IOC Congresses

In the congresses, thirteen in their entirety, held in irregular periods of time, they deal with important issues concerning the international Olympic movement at that time. In addition, it is exposed, discussed and concluded about the Olympic level and record achieved up to then and its future projection. The first of these meetings was held in Paris in 1894.

IOC Sessions

The IOC Sessions is the general assembly of the IOC members, held once a year in which each member has one vote on issues or actions to be taken concerning the Olympic movement. It is the supreme body of the IOC and its decisions are final.

An ordinary session is held once a year. In case of emergency, or to resolve issues still pending, an extraordinary session may be called at the convenience of the IOC President or by written request of at least two thirds of the members.

The most important activities carried out in the sessions are, among others:

• Adapt or modify the Olympic Charter.
• Choosing members of the Olympic Committee, the honorary chair, honorary members and honorary members.
• Choose the President, Vice President and all other members of the Executive Corps.
• Choose the headquarters city of the Olympic Games.
• Determine which sports will be part of the Olympic calendar and which ones will not.

If at any time, no city obtains an absolute majority of the votes cast, a new meeting is held by eliminating the city that receives the fewest votes. In the last round if any, the two finalists are invited to participate in the final result of the vote. The vote is secret and IOC members with the same nationality from a city that are still in the race do not have the right to vote. The IOC also meets in extraordinary congress.

The person in charge of the organization of the Olympic Games, delegates the practical organization of a local Committee of organization of the Olympic Games and the technical organization of events retained in the program of each Olympic Games.

IOC support to sports organizations

For several years the IOC has officially recognized and supported several organizations of a continental and world nature that, like the IOC, have adopted the Olympic Charter as their guide for the development of their sports activities under the supervision of the Olympic Committee. These organizations are:

Continental level

• Association of African National Olympic Committees (ANOCA): Organizes the Pan-African Games.
• Pan American Sports Organization (PANAM SPORTS): Pan American Games Organizer.
• Asia Olympic Council (OCA): The activities you organize are the Asian Games, Asian Winter Games, Asian Beach Games, Asian Youth Games and Asian Martial and Interior Arts Games.
• European Olympic Committees (EOC): Organize the European Games and the European Youth Olympic Festival
• National Olympic Committees of Oceania (ONOC): Organizers of the Pacific Games.

These organizations together form an organization called the Association of National Olympic Committees.

Globally

• International Association of World Games (IWGA): Organizes the World Games, where sports are not part of the Olympic Games but are recognized by IOC. Some sports that participated in these games later became part of the Olympic program (house of waterpolo and female halterophilia, rugby 7, karate and sports climbing, also at the time baseball and softball). According to the number of sports practitioners, participation in the World Games and their acceptance among the public is carried out as an Olympic sport and their voting is held at the Session of the International Olympic Committee of each year with an affirmative or negative result; in case of being affirmative and accepted as an Olympic sport, the same session of the IOC is indicated from which year and in which games the medal dispute begins.

International Federations recognized by the IOC

There are currently 73 sports federations recognized by the IOC. These are:

• The 29 members of the International Olympic Federation Association (ASOIF)
• The 7 members of the International Olympic Federations Association of Winter Sports (AIOWF)
• The 35 members of the Association of International Sports Federations recognized by IOC (ARISF)
• And 2 of the members of SportAccord (International Federation of Cars and International Federation of Baseball)

Honors

In addition to Olympic medals for competitors, the IOC awards a number of other honors:

• The IOC President's Trophy is the highest sporting award given to athletes who have stood out in their sport and had an extraordinary career and created a lasting impact on their sport.
• Pierre de Coubertin's medal has been awarded since 1964 to athletes who demonstrate a special spirit of sportiness in Olympic events
• The Olympic Cup has been awarded since 1904 to institutions or associations with a record of merit and integrity in the active development of the Olympic Movement
• The Olympic Order has been granted since 1975 to individuals for particularly outstanding contributions to the Olympic Movement and replaced the Olympic Certificate.
• The Olympic laurel has been granted since 2016 to people to promote education, culture, development and peace through sport.

IOC Members

For most of its existence, the IOC was controlled by members who were selected by other members. The countries that had hosted the Games had two members. When appointed, they did not become the representatives of their respective countries to the IOC, but rather the IOC members in their respective countries.

Termination of Membership

The membership of IOC members ceases in the following circumstances:

• Renunciation: Any member of the IOC may cease his membership at any time by giving a written resignation to the President.
• No re-election: any member of the IOC ceases to be a member without any other formality if not re-elected.
• Age limit: every member of IOC ceases to be a member at the end of the calendar year during which it reaches the age of 80.
• Do not attend meetings or actively participate in the work of IOC for two consecutive years.
• Transfer of domicile or main interest centre to a country other than the country that was yours at the time of election.
• Members elected as active athletes are no longer members of the IOC Athletes Commission.
• Presidents and individuals who hold an executive or high-level post within CONs, global or continental associations of CON, FI or FI associations or other organizations recognized by IOC cease to be members by failing to exercise the role they were playing at that time.
• Expulsion: a member of IOC may be expelled by decision of the Session if such a member has betrayed his oath or if the Session considers that such a member has deliberately neglected or jeopardized the interests of IOC or acted in an outrageous manner from IOC.
• International federations recognized by IOC

There are currently 73 sports federations recognized by the IOC. These are:

• The 29 members of the International Olympic Federation Association (ASOIF)
• The 7 members of the International Olympic Federations Association of Winter Sports (AIOWF)
• The 35 members of the Association of International Sports Federations recognized by IOC (ARISF)
• And 2 of the members of SportAccord (International Federation of Cars and International Federation of Baseball)

Funding

Germany stamp of 1994, commemorative of the 100 years of IOC

In the early 1980s, the Olympic Games relied heavily on revenue from a single source: their contracts with US television companies for Olympic Games broadcasts. Following the election of Juan Antonio Samaranch as IOC President in 1980, he recognized this vulnerability and in consultation with Horst Dassler, a leading member of the Adidas family, the decision was made to launch a global marketing program for the IOC. Samaranch appointed Canadian IOC member Richard Pound to lead the initiative as chairman of the "New Finance Sources Commission."

In 1982, the IOC created ISL Marketing, a Swiss sports marketing company, to develop a global marketing program for the Olympic Movement. ISL developed the program successfully, but it was succeeded by Meridian Management, a company partly owned by the IOC in the early 1990s.

In 1989, one of ISL Marketing's staff members, Michael Payne, moved to the IOC and became the organization's first director of marketing. However, ISL and subsequently Meridian continued to play the role of sales and marketing agents for the IOC until 2002. In 2002, the IOC ended the relationship with Meridian and carried out its marketing program under the direction of Timo Lumme, Director of IOC Marketing and Television Services. During his 17 years with the IOC, in collaboration with ISL Marketing and later Meridian Management, Payne was instrumental in creating a multi-million dollar sponsorship marketing program for the organization, making it which helped improve television marketing and improve financial management. To restore the financial viability of the IOC.

Income

The Olympic Movement generates income through five main programmes. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) manages the broadcast partnerships and the global sponsorship program of The Olympic Partner (TOP). The Organizing Committees of the Olympic Games (OCOG) manage sponsorship, ticketing and licensing programs in the host country under the direction of the IOC. The Olympic Movement generated a total of more than 4,000 million dollars (2,500 million euros) of income during the Olympic quadrennium from 2001 to 2004.

Income distribution

The IOC distributes part of the Olympic marketing revenue to organizations throughout the Olympic Movement to support the organization of the Olympic Games and promote the global development of sport, including the International Paralympic Committee and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). The IOC retains approximately 10% of Olympic marketing revenue for the operational and administrative costs of running the Olympic Movement.

Environmental concerns

The IOC recognizes that the Olympic Games demand enormous environmental resources, activities and construction projects that could be detrimental to the environment of the host city. In 1995, IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch stated: &# 34;The International Olympic Committee is determined to ensure that the environment becomes the third dimension of the organization of the Olympic Games, sport and culture being the first and second (respectively)". In 1996 the IOC added to the "environment" as the third pillar to his vision of the Olympic Games.

The IOC requires that cities bidding to host the Olympic Games provide a comprehensive strategy to protect the environment in preparation for hosting, and subsequent conclusion of the Games. This initiative was most notably taken into account in the year 2000, when the effort of the "Green Olympics" was developed by the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Beijing Olympic Games. The Beijing 2008 Olympic Games effort to organize green games resulted in more than 160 projects that met the goal of "green" thanks to the improvement of air quality and water quality, the implementation of sustainable energy sources, waste management and environmental education. These projects included relocation or closure of industrial plants, replacement of furnaces, introduction of new emission standards, and stricter traffic control. Most of these measures were taken on a temporary basis, and while real improvements (especially in air quality), most of these improvements had disappeared a year after the Games. Although these improvements were short-lived, the IOC's inclusion of environmental policies in the evaluation and selection of host cities demonstrates a corporate responsibility that can be built on for years to come. Detailed frameworks for environmental sustainability have been released for the 2018 Winter Olympics and 2020 Summer Olympics in Pieonchang, South Korea and Tokyo, Japan, respectively.

Disputes

1976 Winter Olympics

Cities of Denver, Colorado, United States; Zion, Switzerland; Tampere, Finland; and Vancouver (with Garibaldi Mountain), Canada, made bids for the Games.

The games were originally awarded to Denver on May 12, 1970, but a 300% increase in costs and concerns about environmental impact led to rejection by Colorado voters on November 7, 1972, by a margin of 3 to 2, of a bond issue of 5 million dollars to finance the games with public funds.

Denver officially withdrew on November 15, and the IOC offered the games to Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, but they too declined due to a change in government after the election. Whistler would go on to be associated with Vancouver's successful bid for the 2010 games.

Salt Lake City, Utah, the final candidate for the 1972 Winter Olympics, which would ultimately host the 2002 Winter Olympics, offered itself as a potential host after Denver's withdrawal. The International Olympic Committee (IOC), still reeling from Denver's rejection, declined and selected Innsbruck to host the 1976 Winter Olympics, which had hosted the 1964 Winter Olympics twelve years earlier, on February 5, 1973.

Salt Lake Bid Scandal

A scandal erupted on December 10, 1998, when a Swiss IOC member, Marc Hodler, head of the coordinating committee overseeing the organization of the 2002 games, announced that several IOC members had accepted bribes Four independent investigations soon followed: by the IOC, the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), the SLOC, and the United States Department of Justice.

Before any of the investigations could be launched, both Welch and Johnson resigned from their posts as head of the SLOC. Many others soon followed. The Justice Department filed charges against the two: fifteen counts of bribery and fraud. Johnson and Welch were ultimately cleared of all criminal charges in December 2003.

As a result of the investigation, ten IOC members were expelled and another ten were sanctioned. This was the first expulsion or sanction for corruption in more than a century that the IOC had been in existence. Although nothing strictly illegal had been done, acceptance of the gifts was deemed morally dubious. Stricter rules were adopted for future bidding and limits were placed on the number of IOC members that could accept from candidate cities. In addition, new terms and age limits for IOC membership were established, and fifteen former Olympians were added to the committee.

Other controversies

In 2006, a report ordered by the governor of Nagano Prefecture said the Japanese city provided millions of dollars in an "illegitimate and excessive level of hospitality" to IOC members, including $4.4 million spent on entertainment alone. Previous reports put the figure at approximately $14 million. The exact figures are unknown as Nagano, after the IOC requested that entertainment expenses not be made public, destroyed financial records.

International groups have tried to pressure the IOC to reject Beijing's bid to protest the state of human rights in the People's Republic of China. A Chinese dissident who expressed similar sentiments was arrested and sentenced to two years in prison for asking the IOC to do exactly that at the same time that IOC inspectors were traveling through the city. Amnesty International expressed concern in 2006 about the Olympic Games being were held in China in 2008, also expressing concern about the human rights situation. The second principle of the Fundamental Principles of Olympism, the Olympic Charter, establishes that the objective of Olympism is to "put sport at the service of the harmonious development of man, with a view to promoting a peaceful society that deals with the preservation of human dignity". Amnesty International believes that the People's Republic's policies and practices do not comply with this principle and urged the IOC to pressure China to immediately enact human rights reform.

In August 2008, the IOC issued the DMCA to remove notices about Tibetan protest videos. YouTube and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) both filed against the IOC, which later withdrew its complaint.

In 2010, the International Olympic Committee was nominated for the Public Eye Awards. This award seeks to present "The Shame of the Awards to the Nastiest Corporate Players of the Year".

Before the start of the 2012 Olympic Games, the IOC decided not to hold a minute's silence to honor the 11 Israeli Olympians who died 40 years earlier in the Munich massacre. Jacques Rogge, then IOC president, said it would be "inappropriate" do it. Speaking of the decision, Israeli Olympian Shaul Ladany, who had survived the Munich massacre, commented: "I don't understand, I don't understand and I don't accept it."

In February 2013, the IOC did not include wrestling as one of its main Olympic sports for the 2020 Summer Olympics program. This decision was poorly received by the wrestling and sports community. Wrestling was still part of the program for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. This decision was later overturned, and wrestling was part of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.