International Olympic Committee presidential hopefuls, including World Athletics chief Sebastian Coe, face a set of election rules that could influence next year’s vote for the new head of the world’s biggest multi-sports organisation.

Britain’s former Olympic champion Coe, 67, and Spanish IOC Vice President Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr, the 64-year-old son of the late former IOC chief, are two of the potential candidates eyeing the top job in the Olympic body.

A letter sent this week by IOC ethics commission chief Ban Ki-moon to all members said the elected IOC president would have to be an IOC member throughout their entire term, while the age limit for IOC membership is 70 even for the top job, with only one possibility of a four-year extension.

The first term for an IOC president is eight years, which means that under current rules Coe and Samaranch, if elected, would exceed the age limit during their first years in office.

IOC members are elected either through their positions as heads of international federations and National Olympic Committees or as individual members.

Coe got onto the IOC in 2020 through his position as president of World Athletics.

“Pursuant the Olympic Charter the IOC President must be a member of the IOC at the time of the election and during the entire duration of their term as IOC President,” the letter said.

The rules do not pose any immediate problem for either Coe or Samaranch to run for the position.

They are both under the age limit and current IOC members. The rules could, however, be an obstacle during a potential presidency should Coe, for example, lose his World Athletics post that is linked to his IOC membership.

IOC presidents, however, are able to push through rule changes quite easily, either through executive board decisions or charter changes.

Neither Coe nor Samaranch immediately responded to a request for comment.

The new president will be elected by IOC members in March 2025 at a session in ancient Olympia, Greece, and will take over in June that year, Bach said, to allow a smooth transition.

The IOC will announce the list of eligible candidates on Sept. 16.

-Reuters

In a move by the IOC that apparently could block Sebastian Coe as an expected presidential candidate, the Olympic governing body has clarified its complex election rules before a deadline Sunday to enter the race.

A letter seen Wednesday by The Associated Press was sent by the International Olympic Committee’s ethics commission to the 111 members, including Coe and several more likely candidates in the contest to succeed Thomas Bach next year.

Details in the two-page letter dated Monday specified reasons why the likes of Coe, the 67-year-old president of track governing body World Athletics, would seem unable to complete a full first IOC mandate of eight years.

The winning candidate must be a member of the IOC on election day, scheduled for March in Greece, “and during the entire duration of their term as IOC President,” the letter stated.

Coe’s IOC membership is conditional on being president of World Athletics, a role he must leave in 2027 on completing the maximum 12 years in office.

Another expected candidate, IOC vice president Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr., who turns 65 in November, also could have legal issues with the standard age limit of 70 for members defined in the Olympic Charter rules book.

Members turning 70 can be extended only once for four more years, though such an approval for Coe by the IOC executive board also would still expire during a 2025-33 presidency.

The charter “makes no exceptions for the president, who is an IOC member under the same conditions as all the other members,” stated ethics commission chairman Ban Ki Moon, the former United Nations secretary general, who signed the Sept. 9 letter.

Coe is widely considered a most qualified candidate to next lead the IOC. A two-time Olympic champion in the 1,500-meters, he was later an elected lawmaker in Britain, led the 2012 London Olympics organizing committee and has presided at World Athletics for nine years.

The legal hurdles are stacking up just days before the IOC-set deadline for candidates to send a letter of intent to Bach, who will leave as president next year after reaching his 12-year term limit.

Kirsty Coventry, an Olympic gold medalist swimmer who is sports minister of Zimbabwe, and David Lappartient, the French president of cycling’s governing body, have seemed to have support from Bach in recent years.

Bach placed Lappartient to oversee a long-term project with Saudi Arabia, hosting the Esports Olympic Games, that was sealed in Paris.

Other candidates could include two of the four IOC vice presidents — Nicole Hoevertsz of Aruba and Spaniard Samaranch, whose father was IOC president for 21 years until leaving in 2001.

Prince Feisal al Hussein of Jordan is a potential candidate who could be the first president in the IOC’s 130-year history from Asia or Africa.

The IOC top job ideally calls for deep knowledge of managing sports, understanding athletes’ needs and nimble skills in global politics.

However, Coe’s strong positions in sports politics — against Russia on state-backed doping and the invasion of Ukraine, plus awarding $50,000 cash prizes for Paris Olympics gold medals from track’s share of Olympic revenues — have clashed with the IOC and leaders of other sports bodies.

The letter signed by Ban also suggested a conflict of interest between holding two presidential roles, of the IOC and a sports governing body.

This conflict could be resolved, the letter said, by having a vote after the IOC presidential election “for a change of membership status.”

Britain, however, no longer has a quota space for another IOC member elected as an individual. That’s because Hugh Robertson, the government’s Olympics minister at the time of the 2012 Summer Games, was elected in Paris in July.

The IOC needs a new president only because Bach said in Paris last month he would not seek to stay on by changing the statutory maximum of 12 years for the position.

The IOC has had nine presidents in its 130-year history. All have been men and none were from Africa, Asia or Latin America.

The candidates must come from the IOC membership that comprises invited members including royalty from the Middle East and Europe, a current head of state — the Emir of Qatar — former diplomats and lawmakers, industrialists, and leaders of sports bodies and athletes.

-AP

The Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF) is launching the CAF Video Assistant Referee (VAR) Academy for the 54 CAF Member Associations – a move that is aimed at elevating the standard of officiating in Africa.

Following CAF’s recent hosting of the most successful  Africa Cup of Nations that saw the quality of officiating being singled out, CAF is building onto this success with the innovative academy set to be rolled out between September and October 2024.

The CAF VAR Academy will train Elite Referees across the continent for international competitions and national championships on the use of VAR and ensure that Africa continues to produce elite referees, as seen in recent times.

CAF Technical Development Director, Raul Chipenda said the VAR Academy Programme is a practical step by CAF to improve the standard of match officiating in Africa and ensure that African referees are equipped to compete against the best in the world.

“In the last few months, CAF has had a strong bias in upskilling match officials on the usage of VAR that is why at the AFCON in Cote d’Ivoire, our officials were rated amongst the best. But it does not help having a small group, we need a big pool.

“Officiating plays a critical role in the development of African football, as evidently seen in the success of the recent  AFCON. CAF actively oversees and supports a number of football development programmes and competitions across Africa and with that said, it is equally vital that match officials across Africa are adequately equipped with the latest officiating technology, means and education in order to remain on par with the existing pool of officials on the continent”, said Chipenda.

The CAF VAR Academy, which will be attended by elite referees across CAF’s 54 Member Associations will also be the first step in introducing VAR across the continent.

As part of its roll out programme, CAF will be embarking on a continental drive of conducting CAF VAR Academy workshops across its Zonal Unions in the next few months where 180 referees are expected to be reached.

CAF VAR ACADEMY 2024 WORKSHOP DATES: 

-CAF