Last week in Lausanne, IOC President Jacques Rogge met:

 

-          Gunilla Lindberg, IOC Vice-President;

-          Patrick S. Chamunda, IOC member;

-          Jan C. Fransoo, President of the International Korfball Federation;

-          Ambassador Tan York Chor, Singapore’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva;

-          Representatives of TOP partner VISA: Michael O'Hara Lynch, SVP Head of Global Sponsorship; Antonio Lucio, Global CMO; and Doug Michelman, Global Head of Corporate Relations.

This week, Jacques Rogge has taken part in the celebrations of the 60th anniversary of the International Military Sports Council (CISM) in Bern, where he met Brigadier General Gianni Gola and Colonel Michel Van Meurs, respectively President and Secretary General of the CISM.

President Rogge welcomed the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, for a visit to Lausanne.

The IOC President has also been to Bienne (Switzerland) for a meeting with Nick Hayek Jr, CEO of the Swatch Group; Stephen Urquhart, President of Omega; Christophe Berthaud, Director of Swiss Timing; and Swatch Group General Counsel Hanspeter Rentsch.

 

The IOC President further attended a meeting of the International Olympic Truce Foundation (FITO), where he greeted IOC members João Havelange, Syed Shahid Ali and Raja Randhir Singh.

Jacques Rogge has also met:

-          Walther Tröger, IOC member;

IOC honorary member Maurice Herzog was made a Grand Officer of the Légion d’honneur in Paris (France) on 14 April. The French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, paid tribute to the qualities of “a different man, a humbler and freer man who is closer to other people because he has known suffering, discouragement and despair, and has overcome them”.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has announced the affiliation of the Pacific island group of Tuvalu, bringing the total number of IAAF-member federations to 213.

 

The International Fencing Federation (FIE) has been informed that all the tickets for the fencing competitions at the Olympic Games in Beijing have been sold. FIE President René Roch has asked the Organising Committee, BOCOG, about releasing some of the VIP tickets to the general public, to respond to the high demand.

Valdas Adamkus (shown above), the President of Lithuania, has been made an Academician of the Lithuanian Olympic Academy (LOA), in recognition of this long-standing contribution to the promotion of the role of sport and the values of excellence, respect and fair play. NOC President Arturas Poviliunas, one of the first LOA Academicians, paid tribute to the role played by Valdas Adamkus in developing Olympic sport in the country.

The new President of the Supreme Council for Sport in Africa (SCSA), Serge Michel Odzocki, has spelt out his vision for guiding the African sports movement. Over the next two years, he intends to engage African sports confederations and International Federations in constructive dialogue to pursue a development agenda.

 

His goal is to reposition the SCSA as the supreme sporting body in Africa. To achieve this, dialogue and engagement of the various stakeholders in and outside Africa are needed.

On 26 April, an international walk was held in Chaoyang Park in Beijing to mark the 100-day countdown to the opening of the Olympic Games. This celebration was placed under the theme of “Smiling Beijing, Olympic volunteer, shared creation of a harmonious society”.

The third phase of the ticketing plan for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad in Beijing was launched on Wednesday. This is aimed at the public in China.