On the Scene: Russia, Rio Among Tricky Matters Facing IOC

(ATR) The fall-out from the Russian doping scandal, Hamburg’s exit from the 2024 bid race and Rio 2016 progress are among the hot button issues facing the IOC Executive Board as it meets for the last time this year.

Russia’s status in regaining IAAF and WADA recognition will come under scrutiny following the World Anti-Doping Agency report in November. Russian track and field athletes are now banned from the Rio 2016 Olympics, a move the IOC would like to prevent if Russia can get its house in order.

The EB meeting in Lausanne opens on Tuesday with a session focused on good governance. WADA president Craig Reedie, also a member of the executive will update his colleagues on the situation in Russia.

The referendum defeat of the Hamburg bid for the 2024 Olympics is expected to get some attention at the meeting. The port city is the first to lose a referendum since the adoption of the IOC Olympic Agenda 2020 reforms last December.

A revamped 2024 bidding process was supposed to make bids more cost-effective and attractive to public support.

With eight months until the Rio Olympics open, final preparations will come under intense scrutiny. Coordination commission chair Nawal El Moutawakel is expected to say progress is largely on track. But she could be more candid about the trouble spots remaining.

An ongoing issue is the concern over sailing and rowing events in the polluted waters that have drawn so much attention. Instability in the national government could also be flagged for concern. Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff is now the target for impeachment just as Rio 2016 organizers need all the help they can get from the federal government to deliver the games in August.

Problems with autonomy for some National Olympic Committees will be considered during the Wednesday session of the EB. In October, Kuwait was suspended after the national government ignored IOC requests to the government to change laws that influenced the governance of Kuwaiti sports bodies.

Mexico faces a similar quandary with its national government attempting to dictate the leadership of national sports federations. FIBA has already suspended the Mexican basketball Federation. At stake, as is the case with Kuwait, is participation in the 2016 Olympic Games.

The final day of the EB will be devoted to a scorecard on the implementation of Olympic Agenda 2020 changes and what’s expected for 2016. Perhaps most notable among the to-do’s for the new year is the launch of the Olympic Channel, sometime in the first half of 2016.

Executive board members will be briefed on the construction of a new headquarters on the site of the existing complex. Work has begun following final approval from relevant government agencies. The construction is expected to take about two years to complete and will require some upheaval of IOC staff.

On the eve of the EB meeting, IOC president Thomas Bach was on hand to dedicate the renamed Metro stop in Lausanne that’s on the shoreline of Lake Geneva, near both the Olympic Museum and IOC headquarters. Formerly known as Ouchy, the Metro stop is now called Ouchy Olympique.

Bach attended the rededication ceremony along with Lausanne Mayor Daniel Brélaz, revealing a commemorative plaque for the station's new name. Bach said the plaque was a fitting tribute to a city that has housed the IOC for the past 100 years, saying "Olympism is in the DNA of Lausanne."

"The new Ouchy metro station décor perfectly illustrates the passion that Lausanne has for sport and Olympism."

Written by Mark Bisson and Ed Hula

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