The unknown of the 2030 Winter Games begins to unravel in a week of important IOC meetings

New York and Paris have Fashion Week, Lausanne has Commission Week. The pandemic has muted those couture gatherings and its taken its toll on what used to be a busy array of meetings for many of the two-dozen commissions under the umbrella of the IOC. Hundreds of commission members would fly to Lausanne, IOC members and civilians, around this time every year.

With the coronavirus still not conquered, just a fraction of those commissions will meet in Lausanne in the coming days. All of the meetings will be hybrid, with some members taking part on line along with the handful of members who will be in Lausanne.

That’s not to say the work ahead is inconsequential.

The Olympic Solidarity commission will convene today, chaired by Robin Mitchell, IOC member in Fiji and the president of the Association of National Olympic Committees. The 20-member group, a mixture of IOC members, sports federation leaders and representatives of national Olympic committees is one of the largest of the IOC panels.

At stake from Olympic Solidarity is the half billion dollars in revenue that’s distributed to the world’s NOCs and sports federations from IOC sponsorship and broadcasting rights revenue.

Olympic Solidarity helped funnel extra assistance to the NOCs needed for them to cushion the extra costs that resulted from the one year postponement of the Tokyo Olympics. The swiftly approaching Beijing Winter Games may put pressure on NOCs still trying to catch up with the lag in funding due to the postponement.

The IOC Finance Commission meets Nov. 10 to get a grip on the impact of the Tokyo delay. Money that was supposed to be paid to the IOC from rightsholders at the end of the Games is now due, one year later.

The overall fiscal condition of the IOC is the purview of the Finance Commission, which meets November 10. The commission chaired by Singapore IOC member Ser Miang Ng is one of the most exclusive with just five members. It’s responsible for advising the IOC on how best to handle the nearly $6 billion in revenue received every four years.

The panel will have a look at the impact of the Tokyo delay which meant upwards of $800 million in expenses not part of the IOC’s pre-pandemic financial forecast.

The Legal Affairs Commission will meet as well on Wednesday. Chaired by John Coates of Australia, the commission consists of eight members, all from the ranks of the IOC.

The IOC Athletes’ Commission meets November 12, its first meeting since Tokyo where Finnish member Emma Terho was elected as chair for the next four years. The group includes four new members elected by fellow athletes in Tokyo. Since then IOC President Thomas Bach has named two additional members to provide gender, geographic and sport balance to the 17-member commission. Jess Fox, a canoe gold medalist from Australia, and Humphrey Kayange, a rugby sevens player for Kenya, will take their places for the first time this week.

The most intriguing meeting may come on Friday when the Future Host Commission for the Olympic Winter Games will meet. Chaired by Octavian Morariu of Romania, this eight-member panel will handle the selection of a nominee for 2030, the next Olympic host city due to be chosen by the IOC. A similar panel has the job of searching for a 2036 Summer Games host.

Discussions are underway with four cities so far: Barcelona, Salt Lake City, Sapporo and Vancouver. A choice is likely to be timed following Beijing next year. Exactly when may be a key item for discussion this week. There’s no hurry. Host cities are normally decided about seven years before the Games.

One footnote to the winter future Games commission is the participation of Afghani IOC member Samira Asghari. Outspoken with her doubts about the return of Taliban rule to Afghanistan, she has yet to return to her home since the takeover in August. Around the Rings is told she is safe, believed to be residing in Germany. Also a member of the IOC coordination commission for Los Angeles, Asghari is expected to take part when that group meets virtually next week.

The IOC Executive Board will close the week of business in Lausanne on Friday. Around the Rings is told that there will be no briefing for media that is customary from the IOC President. The lack of any major decisions is given as the reason.

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