Revenue-Sharing, Baseball-Softball Discussion Top IOC EB Agenda

(ATR) With their 2020 shortlist out of the way, members of the IOC Executive Board must now tie up some loose ends in their remaining two days of meetings.

Whether to allow baseball and softball a joint pitch for Olympic reinstatement is one such lingering question that could be answered here in Quebec City.

"The fact that we are in the same booth together signals that our two federations want to join together," baseball president Riccardo Fraccari tells Around the Rings from inside his joint exhibition space with softball.

"Practically, everything's ready."

If given the IOC green-light, according to Fraccari, some conditions would almost certainly apply in order to ensure the proposal conforms to the Olympic Charter.

"For sure, only one federation will present the candidacy in the name of the other," he tells ATR.

What that single, combined federation would be called remains one of the only remaining unknowns in an existing draft Memorandum of Understanding between IBAF and ISF.

The IOC is wary of a name that seems to mention two separate sports, softball president Don Porter tells ATR, and would probably only allow one like international aquatics federation FINA, for example, that encompasses swimming, diving, water polo and synchronized swimming.

"We certainly do not want to lose our identity as a sport, but on the other hand we want to be back on the program, and we've got a lot of young athletes out there that would like to see their Olympic dreams come back," says Porter.

"We don't want to let them down."

According to IOC sport director Christophe Dubi, the EB will discuss softball and baseball on Friday.

""Whether a resolution can be taken, it's probably premature," he said Wednesday, adding that the IOC Juridical Commission meets in a few weeks and could address any doubts over the legality of a joint bid then.

Revenue-Sharing Resolution?

A press conference is now expected Thursday afternoon in Quebec City to put an end to long-simmering negotiations between the IOC and U.S. Olympic Committee over a new revenue-sharing deal.

The agreement would have to be signed by Larry Probst, USOC board chairman who arrived in Quebec City late Thursday, and IOC president Jacques Rogge. The boards of both organizations would also have to sign off, but each has authorized the negotiation teams, so that is not thought to be a problem.

Around the Rings is told that any agreement is expected to include significant concessions from the USOC. Under its current deal with the IOC – good through 2020 – the USOC receives 12.75 percent of U.S. broadcast rights and 20 percent of global Olympic sponsorship money, a portion of the revenue pie with which other Olympic stakeholders are unhappy.

OCOG Updates

After lending a bit more clarity Wednesday to bidding for the 2020 Olympics, the EB will now hear from the organizing committees of some more immediate Games.

Sochi 2014 is Thursday's opening act with a report from Coordination Commission chair Jean-Claude Killy coming by video conference.

Reports from IOC administration and commissions for juridical matters, television and marketing, TV rights and new media, medicine, technology and information, international cooperation as well as NOC relations and Olympic Solidarity – in addition to finance – round out the EB's morning.

LOCOG chair Sebastian Coe is first up after lunch with his third presentation of the week. After addressing the ASOIF general assembly Wednesday afternoon and SportAccord at large Thursday morning, he'll deliver a progress report to the EB with exactly 65 days to the Games.

POCOG president and CEO Jin Sun Kim will then appear alongside Gunilla Lindberg, chair of the Coordination Commission for PyeongChang 2018.

For a second time in three EB meetings, Co-Comm chair Nawal El Moutawakel will do the honors for Rio 2016.

Reports on the Youth Olympic Games of Innsbruck 2012, Nanjing 2014 and Lillehammer 2016 close out Thursday's schedule.

Friday is filled with reports from IOC administration and commissions on Sport for All, candidatures and athletes as well as discussion of the softball-baseball bid.

A press conference with IOC president Jacques Rogge at 2 p.m. brings the week to an end, both for the EB and for SportAccord.

Written by Matthew Grayson.

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