Italy Agrees to IOC Demands

(ATR) Italy’s outgoing government acts at the 11th hour to avoid possible sanctions from the International Olympic Committee.

The cabinet on Tuesday approved a decree that guarantees the autonomy of the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI).

The IOC, as early as August 2019, had been warning Italy that a sport reform law passed by the Italian Parliament in late 2018 was in violation of the Olympic Charter, as it constitutes government interference affecting the Italian NOC’s autonomy presiding over Italian sport.

The legislation established a government-controlled organization entitled "Sport e Salute", or Sport and Health, to manage distribution of funding to Italy’s NGB’s. The law also reduced CONI’s role to only handling preparations for the Olympic Games.

The IOC Executive Board, meeting on Wednesday, was expected to take action against Italy that could have included forcing Italian athletes to compete at Tokyo 2020 without the Italian flag and anthem.

CONI President Giovanni Malagò, according to ANSA, said he informed IOC President Thomas Bach about the development.

Bach said "I'm very happy" after Malagò, an IOC member, told him "the law is OK, our autonomy is safe".

Malagò told Around the Rings earlier this month that he was concerned about possible sanctions, calling the situation "alarming" and that "only a new decree law by government can resolve the issue".

In comments reported by ANSA, Sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora on Tuesday seemed less worried about sanctions.

"It was unlikely that Italy would have been so heavily penalized tomorrow, given our country's long and glorious sporting and democratic history," he said.

"But today's decision eliminates any doubt and resolve[s] the problem of CONI's independence."

Spadafora added that the Italian Parliament still needs to convert the cabinet decree into law.

The decree was one of the final acts of Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte’s coalition government. He resigned later on Tuesday having failed to win an absolute majority in the Senate.

Written by Gerard Farek

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