Presidential Candidate Bach Calls for IOC Debate

(ATR) The presumed front-runner in the race to become IOC president unveils a wide-ranging manifesto that calls for some big changes to the way the committee works.

Thomas Bach of Germany spoke with reporters Friday by teleconference as the deadline to file for the presidential election closed.

Bach is one of six candidates in the contest to succeed Jacques Rogge; the election is Sep. 10. The other candidates include Sergey Bubka of the Ukraine, Richard Carrion of Puerto Rico, Ser Miang Ng of Singapore, Denis Oswald of Switzerland and C.K. Wu of Chinese Taipei.

Bach, 59, is an IOC vice president, a member since 1991. He is serving his second term as president of the DOSB, the German Olympic Sports Union. He was a fencing gold medalist at the 1976 Games.

Bach is calling for an IOC in which debate and transparency are part of how decisions are made by the world sports body.

"I see the IOC members as a sort of universal orchestra where everybody has individual strengths, instruments to play," he said.

"I would like to create better conditions for the members to express themselves," he said.

"The Session should become more interactive. It should be less about hearing reports and more about debate," he says about the annual meeting of the IOC.

Ahead of the press conference, Bach sent his 15-page manifesto to the IOC membership, the only distribution allowed under IOC rules. Nonetheless, the 15-page document has been distributed to the press from sources other than Bach.

Bach indicates that he would entertain proposals to change the age 70 retirement rule for members, a point of view shared by his election rivals. But he says he‘s not advocating a specific change until the membership has a chance to make its voice heard.

"My management, leadership style is one of dialogue and consensus," he said.

Regarding the way the IOC program is changed, Bach, as are other candidates, wants more flexibility. While he says there must be a limit on numbers of athletes, he says there must be ways to find room for new events. "Embracing diversity," is what is needed he says.

Regarding bids for the Games, Bach says the IOC should "reconsider our bidding procedure to make it more encouraging and more flexible". While he would consider the possibility of allowing members to visit bid cities, Bach says it’s a move that must be examined for its "knock-on effect".

Regarding the challenges facing the Olympics, "we have to insure the uniqueness of the Games," Bach says, avoiding dilution of the Olympics with other events.

A big "wish" for Bach would be the formation of an Olympic TV channel for worldwide distribution.

"This is a question about impressing the youth," Bach said, noting the channel would expose young people to Olympic sports, not just during the time of the Games.

Getting youth to pay attention to the Olympics is a key part of the Bach manifesto. He would like to make the new Youth Olympic Games grow into an event which reaches young people not involved with sport. He also would expand IOC use of social media to "devise a worldwide social media strategy to engage young people."

Written and reported byEd Hula.

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