USOC International Relations Enters New Chapter

(ATR) International relations for the U.S. Olympic Committee takes a new turn, as does the career of Robert Fasulo, who has officially left the USOC as managing director of international relations.

Fasulo’s departure from the USOC came Aug. 31 as he shuttered the office in Orange County, California, that he opened four years ago when he was hired.

Months ago the USOC announced a reorganization of the international relations department, which meant the closing the office and the end of Fasulo’s tenure as managing director.

"I’m not going to disappear, I am still available," Fasulo tells Around the Rings, saying he leaves the USOC on good terms. "I consider myself a friend of the organization," he says.

The office Fasulo closed last week was situated in Orange County to be in proximity to then-USOC chair Peter Ueberroth and former USOC vp international Bob Ctvrtlik, both of whom lived nearby.

Carolina Bayon, who worked with Fasulo in California, is relocating to Colorado where the IR staff and effort is now located at USOC headquarters in Colorado Springs. Dragomir Ciroslan, the other key USOC IR staffer, already was based in Colorado.

USOC chief executive Scott Blackmun tells Around the Rings that there are no immediate plans to hire an executive to take the place of Fasulo.

"Carolina, Dragomir and I will spend a lot of time talking about what’s the best structure for us going forward. As of right now we’re not planning to hire somebody. But that’s not a decision set in stone," says Blackmun.

"We don’t have an active bid right now, so our international relations doesn’t need the structure required for a bid," he says.

USOC Leadership Takes Charge of International Relations

Fasulo agrees with Blackmun’s assessment and applauds Blackmun and USOC chairman Larry Probst for taking charge of USOC international relations efforts.

"There’s been this realization from the leadership, from the people driving the organization, international relations is a fundamental part of their responsibilities," Fasulo tells ATR.

"It’s not something that can be farmed out or delegated. The Olympic Movement works on trust, personal relationships," he says.

"They are on the right path".

He says the demise last October of the Chicago bid for the 2016 Olympics was a "difficult moment" for him and the USOC. But he says from such disappointments come what he calls "learnings and opportunities".

Since Chicago’s defeat in the first round of voting at the IOC Sessionin Copenhagen, Probst and Blackmun, who started work in January, have become omnipresent at Olympic events and meetings around the world.

At the same time, Fasulo says that the USOC IR program is more than "a couple of individuals".

"It’s about the whole organization," given, he says, the high profile of the U.S. in the Olympic Movement.

"We are watched, every move we make is watched," he says.

"What we do has an impact on the rest of the world".

Fasulo Gingerly Launches Consulting Career

Fasulo is hanging out the shingle for Robert Fasulo International, the name of the firm under which he will operate as a consultant for sports organizations, companies and possibly bid committees.

He says he has had some informal talks with prospective clients "but I’m in no hurry" about accepting major assignments he says. After more than 20 years in the institutional side of the Olympics, Fasulo wants to find work that offers him "more control over myself".

Now 46, Fasulo worked in the 1990s as an assistant to the late IAAF President Primo Nebiolo. After Nebiolo’s death, Fasulo went to Lausanne as director general of the Association of Summer Olympic International Sports Federations and then joined the USOC in 2006.

Fluent in Spanish, French and Italian, Fasulo has been mentioned as a likely consultant for the Rome 2020 Olympic bid. So far, Rome appears to be the most prepared city for 2020 of any of the possible contenders; it’s the only one endorsed by an NOC.

"The Italians are friends, we’re in contact, but we haven’t defined anything," he says.

"There’s a natural affinity there," he adds, noting that he lived in Rome for 13 years.

Fasulo says he plans to keep his name as the brand for his business.

"I want to build on my own personal brand, rather than create a new one. A lot of people say ‘we’re going to create this new name, hire all these people’". That’s not what I’m about."

"I’m about trust and credibility and relationships," he says.

Fasulo’s new email is rjf@robertfasulo.com;a website is under construction.

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Written by Ed Hula.

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