ASOIF Chief Points to Lack of Female Leaders in Sport

(ATR) Francesco Ricci Bitti today urged more women to run for top positions in sports administration.

"Sport needs your talent," he told the 2nd IF Women in Leadership Forum in Lausanne.

"Women can bring an important skill set and perspective to sport organizations which, in my view, counts much more than satisfying quota demands," the ASOIF president said.

"In sport, we still have a huge lack of female leaders, that’s why we aim to use this forum to help develop them. It is an action-driven event and we have been encouraged by the positive outcomes we saw after the first edition last year."

Ricci Bitti added: "Striving for gender equality within our organisations is interlinked with good governance.

"It is not about ticking any boxes, but about developing a favorable culture and then implementing certain principles consistently across all organisational policies and activities."

Ricci Bitti opened the forum together with Lydia Nsekera, chair of the IOC Women in Sport Commission, and IOC director general Christophe De Kepper.

All 28 member federations of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations sent female delegates to the second edition of the three-day forum which opened Monday. Jointly organised with the IOC, the meeting brings together female leaders to discuss gender equality in sport. More than 65 participants from international and national federations and NOCs are in attendance.

The focus of this year’s forum is on how participants can run for a leadership position, how to lead others, and how to become politically savvy. It aims to identify concrete measures to increase development opportunities and the recruitment of women in decision-making positions at all levels of sport. The objectives are in line with the IOC Executive Board’s call to the Olympic Movement in December to achieve a minimum target of 30 percent of women in leadership roles by 2020.

In her address, Nsekera said: "We need to continue these good results and not weaken in our efforts to ensure that even more women are elected to positions of responsibility within IFs, national federations and clubs."

The IOC member from Burundi said she hoped the forum would provide helpful advice to female leaders in sport, "but also to enable you in turn to become mentors for other women working or seeking to work in the world of sport".

The IF Women in Leadership Forum will provide a platform for sports federations to share best practices and effective strategies for increasing the number of women in leadership roles through panel discussions, mentoring and practical workshops.

The IOC noted in a release that commitment to gender equality was more evident at the Rio Olympics than ever before. Women accounted for 45 per cent of athletes at the Games, while 51 NOCs had more women than men in their Olympic delegations.

On Tuesday, BBC sport director and Olympian Barbara Slater, who participated in gymnastics at the 1976 Games, will kick off panel discussions.

On the final day, participants will learn about strategies and tools for election campaigns and how to leverage social media. The event coincides with International Women’s Day on March 8.

Reported by Mark Bisson

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