ATR Exclusive - Oswald Set to Quit as ASOIF President

(ATR) Denis Oswald is expected to announce his resignation as president of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations in the coming weeks to pave the way for a smooth succession.

Oswald's resignation is a solution to ensure ASOIF maintains a presence on the IOC Executive Board when the Swiss finishes his term this summer.

Around the Rings is told the president of FISA, the International Rowing Federation, will send a letter to the heads of the 28 member federations of ASOIF saying that he will step down on Dec. 31 - five months before his third and final four-year term in office expires.

He believes the IOC will agree to him staying on the EB until the end of the year.

The eight-member ASOIF Council discussed Oswald's succession at a meeting on the sidelines of the Winter Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck on Monday.

Oswald's upcoming announcement will sound the gun on campaigning to replace him as head of ASOIF.

Nominations from candidates are due by the middle of May, no later than 15 days before the association's general assembly at SportAccord at the end of May.

A new ASOIF president will be elected at the meeting in Quebec City.

If an IOC member is not chosen to lead the body, ASOIF will nominate another federation president to represent its concerns on the IOC Executive Board from the start of next January.

The IOC Session convening in London in July is expected to rubberstamp the new ASOIF representative to sit at the IOC's top table.

ASOIF director Andrew Ryan told ATR that Oswald's resignation and election of a new president this year rather than in May 2013 appeared to be the most suitable solution to keeping a representative from ASOIF on the EB.

"ASOIF looked at all of the possibilities to resolve this," Ryan said Tuesday.

"What we will do now is final checks to make sure we understand all of this correctly [with the IOC]. Assuming we have there will be an election in Quebec for a new ASOIF president to take over from January 2013," he added.

"We wanted to make sure he [Oswald] could complete the Games cycle. We will also alter our regulations for the future to ensure we elect a new president in the year of the Games."

Noting that Oswald's successor would become only the third leader of ASOIF since it was formed in 1983, Ryan said the 65-year-old's legacy would become clearer after the London Olympics.

Oswald heads the IOC Coordination Commission for London 2012, which makes its final inspection of the British capital's Olympic preparations March 28 to 30.

"He has been a very stable president and during his time the share of Olympic revenues to international federations has increased considerably. ASOIF is now established as a strong political force within the Olympic Movement," Ryan said.

Commenting on the new ASOIF leadership ahead, he added: "The new president gets the opportunity to reassess what the association's goals and objectives are."

Reported by Mark Bisson

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