(ATR) The federation’s new CEO Andy Hunt heads to Rio next month to get a clearer picture of the massive pollution problem in Guanabara Bay.
With the pollution crisis one of the biggest headaches for Rio 2016 organisers and the IOC, Hunt’s Feb. 10 to 15 visit to Brazil will be critical to accelerating the clean-up of the sewage-infested water in the venue for Olympic sailing.
Hunt tells Around the Rings he has internal meetings this week to better understand what work has been carried out by Rio 2016 and the Olympic host and the size of the job that remains with 200 days to go to Games time.
The former CEO of the British Olympic Association said he is looking forward to getting "briefed and appraised at the venue so I can understand what’s happened".
"The organization here has spent a lot of time addressing matter. I am sure that things are largely on track," he said, speaking of delivering a "fantastic" Olympic regatta as his "number one priority".
"The safety of athletes is absolutely paramount for us and obviously fair competition is incredibly important," the 52-year-old added.
Amid criticism the federation has not done enough to tackle the pollution issue, Hunt vowed to examine the problems in a "programmatic way" after his Rio trip: "Anything else I can do to support work to make it a great venue for sailing, not least because it is rare to be in a city environment, I will do it."
Certainly, the revolving doors at the International Sailing Federation, now rebranded World Sailing, hasn’t helped the federation’s mission to address the pollution crisis in Rio.
"There’s been a vacuum here for sometime," Hunt said of the lack of focus on the sport’s challenges in Rio.
Hunt is the third CEO of sailing’s governing body in just over a year. He replaces Peter Sowery, who quit after the November annual conference after just five months in the role and less than 48 hours after new tests commissioned by the Associated Press showed dangerous levels of viruses in courses outside of Guanabara Bay. Sowery took the reins from Jerome Pels who left the organization a year earlier.
Hunt said his experience as chief executive for the British Olympic Association at London 2012 would help World Sailing get to grips with the issues ahead as well as improving the governance of the IF.
One of his goals beyond the Rio Games is "to make sure we have best practice processes, all the things in place to be a really effective international federation".
"I really hope World Sailing over time becomes an example of best practice," said Hunt, who was most recently chairman and managing partner of Progressive Media Group.
"The thing that excites me is sailing has such potential, not only for growth but the profile. It’s important for this organisation to become more commercial and diversify revenue streams."
He described the rebrand to World Sailing as a "significant step forward" to make the organization more understandable and to developing commercial propositions. "It’s much more compelling for fans and participants of sailing. There couldn’t be a more appropriate strapline than ‘sport for life’," he said.
Despite the pollution scandal, Hunt is optimistic Rio 2016 will enhance the World Sailing brand. Developing the federation’s profile and World Cups and World Championships is also on his agenda.
After sailing was dropped from the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, one of Hunt’s other priorities is regaining inclusion.
Additional work ahead includes studying how World Sailing can apply the IOC’s Agenda 2020 principles, while investing time and resources to grow World Sailing TV.
"We want to make sure we are working effectively together as a team. There is a really, really talented team here at World Sailing," he said.
Reported by Mark Bisson
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