Highlights of last IOC Executive Board meeting of the year

The Executive Board (EB) of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) today concluded its proceedings with a series of important decisions.

The EB disqualified Marion Jones from the five events in which she competed at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney (100m - 1st place, 200m - 1st place, 4x400m relay -1st place, 4x100m relay – 3rd place, and Long Jump - 3rd place), and from the event in which she took part in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games (Long Jump - 5th place). Jones has already returned her medals, which are now in the possession of the IOC.

The EB also decided that Marion Jones is ineligible for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, not only as an athlete but also in any other capacity. Pending the outcome of the BALCO investigation, the IOC also reserves its right to consider possible further sanctions against her, including banning her from taking part in any capacity in future editions of the Olympic Games.

As soon as the BALCO story came to light, the IOC was keen to understand fully the degree to which the affair might have affected Olympic Games' competitions and set up a Disciplinary Commission with this aim in mind. Despite concerted efforts, sufficient information has not been forthcoming to date and therefore, with a full picture still not clear, the EB decided today not to adjust the rankings that might be impacted by Jones’s disqualification: The IOC Disciplinary Commission will keep the BALCO file open and await greater access to documentation related to the case from which to make subsequent recommendations to the EB.

The full decision is available on www.olympic.org.

On the agenda this week was the topical matter of betting in sport. In a proactive approach, the IOC has initiated a series of discussions with other sporting organisations to find out what they are doing in this area. Lord Condon, the Chairman of the Anti-corruption and Security Unit at the International Cricket Council, was invited to address the EB this morning. In his presentation, Condon said he believed that the Olympic Games are not a particularly high risk event as regards illicit betting activities, but encouraged the IOC to pursue the proactive measures it has already undertaken, which include barring all participants in the Olympic Games from betting and promoting betting.

Following Lord Condon’s presentation, the EB decided to continue to share rules and experiences with sports federations, especially in the area of event monitoring, and to organise a seminar involving the stakeholders of the Olympic Movement in order for participants to learn from the sports that have had to deal with this challenge.

Among the other key decisions taken by the EB this week are:

• the drawing of lots that determines the order in which the cities bidding for the 2016 Olympic Games will be listed, make presentations, etc. until the election of the Host City in October 2009. The order will be: Chicago (USA), Prague (Czech Republic), Tokyo (Japan), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Baku (Azerbaijan), Doha (Qatar) and Madrid (Spain);
• approval of the major deadlines for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games bid process – the information is available on www.olympic.org;
• approval of the timeframe for the bid process for the 2012 Winter Youth Olympic Games;
• the extension of the Olympic Solidarity programmes to the Winter Games starting with Vancouver 2010. A US$ 9 million funding package will be available to assist winter sports athletes in their preparation for the Games;
• approval of the list of the 31 athletes who will run for election to the IOC Athletes’ Commission in Beijing;
• the release to the International Boxing Association (AIBA) of the totality of the money initially frozen by the IOC, in recognition the reforms adopted by the Federation to improve its judging system;
• the provisional recognition – for two years - of the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC)