Golden 25 - #24 - IOC Watchdog from Belgium

Budapest 2017 — Time to Share the Water of Life and Celebrate the Golden 25 with Around the Rings

(ATR) Pierre-Olivier Beckers keeps an eye on the inner-most workings of the IOC.

Beckers, elected to the IOC in 2012, chairs the Audit Committee, a five-member group responsible for insuring the integrity of IOC finances and governance.

With literally billions of dollars, euros and yen flowing in and out of the accounts, Beckers is one of a very few IOC members with the competence to lead this internal watchdog.

Beckers is one of the leading figures in the world for the grocery business, spending nearly 15 years as CEO of Delhaize, a mammoth in the industry with global operations. Retired from Delhaize, Beckers is now chairman of the board for Amoobi, a Belgian firm which offers sophisticated data mining services for retailers.

Beckers, 56, has been a board member of the Belgian Olympic Committee since 2002 and president of the committee since 2004, a job held previously by Jacques Rogge before he became IOC President.

In addition to the influence Beckers wields on the IOC in his audit role, he is a member of two other commissions with crucial responsibilities.

He’s one of the five members of the Finance Commission chaired by Ser Miang Ng of Singapore that scrutinizes the wheeling and dealing of the IOC.

Becker’s third assignment on the IOC is the Ethics Commission, making him privy to the details of confidential files involving IOC members and other Olympic parties.

Written by Ed Hula.