Zhukov Bids Farewell to IOC

(ATR) Alexander Zhukov has said goodbye to Thomas Bach and IOC colleagues.

On a visit to IOC headquarters in Lausanne, the Russian NOC president officially informed president Thomas Bach that he would not be standing for re-election on May 29. In leaving the ROC and returning to work in the Russian government, Zhukov relinquishes his IOC membership.

"He informed the president that he had very much enjoyed working in the IOC, and he emphasized that both he and the Russian NOC had had to accept administrative responsibility for the systematic manipulation of the anti-doping system in Russia, even though in none of the reports there was any allegation of wrongdoing against either the ROC or himself," the IOC said in a statement.

"He said that this had not been easy either for the ROC or for him personally."

The statement added: "The IOC president thanked him for how the ROC and he had taken this decision, and accepted the sanctions and cooperated constructively with regard to the formation of the Olympic Athlete from Russia (OAR) team [for PyeongChang Olympics].

"He thanked him for all the contributions he had made to the IOC, particularly in his role as the chair of the coordination commission for the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022."

At the helm of the ROC since 2010, Zhukov made his mark as head of the Beijing 2022 evaluation commission; he was later appointed chair of the co-com.

But his reputation was sullied by the state-sponsored doping scandal engulfing Russian sport, which was detailed in the McLaren Report's bombshell revelations, although he was never personally implicated.

The IOC is expected to name Juan Antonio Samaranch as the new head of the Beijing 2022 co-com soon after next Tuesday’s Russian NOC elections. Samaranch has been interim chair in recent months amid the fallout from the IOC’s suspension of the Russian NOC in December.

On May 29, Olympic fencing champion Stanislav Pozdnyakov is favorite to be elected to replace Zhukov as head of the Russian NOC. He is expected to easily overcome the challenge of former IOC member Alexander Popov in the ballot. Popov is said to have considerably fewer supporters.

Nominated by the Russian Cross Country Skiing Federation, Around the Rings is told that the 44-year-old Pozdnyakov has governmental backing and the support of another 35 national federations. One of his backers is Alisher Usmanov, the Uzbek-born Russian billionaire president of the International Fencing Federation, who wields significant influence in the Russian sports world.

Pozdnyakov's star is in the ascendancy in sports administration. In 2016, the four-time Olympic sabre gold medalist was elected first vice president of the Russian Olympic Committee. The appointment came just months after he was elected to the presidency of the European Fencing Confederation.

Pozdnyakov is one of fencing’s most successful athletes. He won individual and team gold at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, and team gold at Barcelona 1992 and Sydney 2000. He has also won 10 world titles.

Reported by Mark Bisson

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