Ricci Bitti Sole Candidate for ASOIF Presidency

(ATR) Francesco Ricci Bitti will be re-elected as ASOIF president at the summer sports body’s general assembly this month.

As expected, no other nominations for the presidency were received by the April 4 deadline, leaving the current ASOIF leader to take the reins for another term of office after elections at the SportAccord Convention in Lausanne on April 19.

Ricci Bitti on Tuesday sent a letter to the 28 summer Olympic sports federation presidents confirming his nomination for the ASOIF post from the International Tennis Federation, which he led for many years.

The Italian has won plaudits for his leadership of ASOIF since he was elected to replace Denis Oswald in 2013.

Notably, he has spearheaded the summer sports' effort to help accelerate Rio's delay-hit Olympic preparations. Two years ago, he chaired a crisis meeting of summer IFs alongside IOC president Thomas Bach amid grave concerns about the progress being made across 2016 Olympic venues.

The 74-year-old is honorary life president of the International Tennis Federation and a member of the IOC Coordination Commissions for Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. Heis also a member of WADA's executive committee and its foundation board.

He served as an IOC member from 2006 to 2012 and was awarded with the Olympic Order in 2012.

The ASOIF president is elected for a four-year mandate, in the year of the summer Olympics. Ricci Bitti’s new term starts Jan. 1, 2017.

This Sunday, Ricci Bitti heads to Rio to participate in the IOC co-com’s latest inspection of 2016 Olympic preparations. The IOC check-up takes place April 11 to 13.

Reported by Mark Bisson

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