Kocijancic Elected Permanent Head of European Olympic Committees

(ATR) Janez Kocijančič has a new title at the European Olympic Committees after 15 months as acting president.

Kocijančič was elected unanimously as President of the EOC, removing the acting title he had held. He ran unopposed for the position during the EOC General Assembly in Zagreb, Croatia.

Three positions within the EOC were contested unopposed. In addition to Kocijančič, Secretary General Raffaele Pagnozzi and Treasurer Kikis Lazarides retained their positions. Niels Nygaard was elected Vice-President of the EOC. Thirteen members of the Executive Committee were also elected.

Kocijančič assumed the title of Acting President of the EOC following the Rio 2016 Olympics and the arrest of IOC member Patrick Hickey. After the arrest Hickey self-suspended himself from all of his Olympic family positions.

Since Hickey’s return from Brazil on bail he is awaiting trial on counts of ticket touting, forming a cartel, and illegally marketing the Rio 2016 Olympics. He and co-defendant Kevin Mallon were expected in court to testify before a judge next week. However, Mallon’s lawyer successfully sought an injunction on the grounds that the defense has not had access to evidence. A Brazilian Supreme Court Judge ruled the injunction applied to Hickey as well.

"Nothing will happen until the appeal of the defense is tried in Brasilia," Franklin Bastia Gomes, Mallon’s lawyer, said to Around the Rings. "I don’t know when that will be."

There was no talk of making Hickey an honorary president of the EOC following Kocijančič’s election. With this election Hickey has been replaced in every role he had prior to his arrest except for his suspended IOC membership.

Bach and Ahmad Visit Zagreb

IOC President Thomas Bach and ANOC President Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah paid a visit to the EOC General Assembly in Zagreb.

Bach delivered a keynote speech to the assembly speaking about the imminent IOC Executive Board decision on the Russian team at PyeongChang 2018. He referenced the decisions that have been taken so far by the Oswald Commission on athletes from Sochi 2014 named in the McLaren Report.

A total of 14 Russian athletes have been sanctioned by the Oswald Commission pending appeals to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Bach’s speech was heard by a large Russian delegation in Zagreb, including Russian Olympic Committee President Alexander Zhukov.

The IOC's Schmid Commission is investigating any manipulation to the anti-doping procedures at the Sochi Games.

"We do not know what the results of the [Schmid] Commission will be but there are two issues which I think are important to mention," Bach said. "There is first of all to emphasize once more that with the result of the two commissions we are at the end of a fair procedure following due process. Then only after we perform such a due process you can take a decision.

"I do not know what the decision will be, what I do know is it will be a fair decision and it will be a decision, which some think they could influence one way or the other. What I can tell you from whichever side some may try to pressure they will be wrong."

Bach said the "15 experienced members" on the EB will look at the facts and conclusions from the commission to reach a decision. He added that the process before PyeongChang is very different than the process before Rio 2016 because of the "possibility to follow due process".

In recent weeks speculation has emerged as to what the IOC will do with regard to Russian participation. Media reports have said the IOC is considering allowing Russian athletes to participate in the Games under a neutral flag. This proposal did not sit well with Russian authorities. The Kontinental Hockey League said it would not release its athletes for the Games should such a proposal be approved.

Last week, the World Anti-Doping Agency said that the Russian Anti-Doping Agency remains non-compliant with the world anti-doping code. WADA also said that it had been given an electronic database of all samples from the Moscow lab during the period of 2012-15. The organization did not say how it came to possess the database, but did confirm it received the information from a third party. Possession of the database’s information was shared with the IOC leading to multiple reports speculating that the IOC could hand Russia a harsh penalty in December.

Bach said that the decisions about to be taken are about "the integrity of the Olympic Games". Unlike in previous speeches there was no reference to "individual justice" or "collective responsibility" like there was with decisions taken ahead of Rio 2016.

"Now it is about what happened at Olympic Games in a laboratory of the Olympic Games, what happened with Olympic athletes, what happened with Olympic medals," Bach said. "This is what we have to bear in mind when I say that we will take a fair decision."

Written by Aaron Bauer

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