The structure of The Olympic Movement
Keynote speaker Thomas Bach, made an appeal for the protection of the autonomy of sport. The IOC Vice-President and President of the German Olympic Committee pointed out that sports organisations constantly have to deal with threats to their autonomy.
He warned Congress delegates that these attacks come “in many different forms.” “I am sure that subsequent speakers will provide a whole host of examples from the perspective of National Olympic Committees, International Federations or painful personal experiences. You will hear about governments' attempts to prevent elections, to appoint presidents of sports organisations themselves and to manipulate voting. Many of you in this room have even suffered personally with your families. You deserve tremendous respect and gratitude for your commitment to the autonomy and values of sport” he continued to say.
In his speech Thomas Bach spoke about his own experiences with political interference in sport. As an Olympic fencing gold medallist at the 1976 Games in Montreal, he was unable to take part in the following edition of the Games because of the partial boycott of the 1980 Games in Moscow. For him, sport deserves its autonomy because of its unique role in society.
As he argued, “Sport is the only social sector that has actually achieved what political philosophy calls “global law” and what moral philosophy calls “global ethos”. The rules of sport, based on the principle of fair play, apply to every athlete all over the world. These rules can only be enforced by an autonomous sporting structure, which also created them. They help to protect fair competition and promote the competitiveness of athletes and federations.”
You can access the texts of each speaker, their presentation (if available) and the video of each session by clicking the links below.
PLENARY SESSION
Thomas Bach Keynote speaker
Mario Vázquez Raña NOC representative
Ser Miang Ng IOC representative
Francesco Ricci Bitti IF representative
DISCUSSION SESSIONS
1) THE AUTONOMY OF THE OLYMPIC MOVEMENT
Lambis V. Nikolaou Moderator
Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah IOC representative
Lord Colin Moynihan NOC representative
Jérôme Champagne IF representative
Aïcha Garad Ali Stakeholder representative
2) GOOD GOVERNANCE AND ETHICS
Youssoupha Ndiaye Moderator
Francisco J. Elizalde IOC representative
Michael A. Chambers NOC representative
Anders Besseberg IF representative
James L. Easton Stakeholder representative
3) THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE OLYMPIC MOVEMENT AND ITS STAKEHOLDERS
Gerhard Heiberg Moderator
Anita L. DeFrantz IOC representative
Julio César Maglione NOC representative
Hassan Moustafa IF representative
Muhtar Kent Stakeholder representative