IOC approves changes to the Future of Olympic Games Elections

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced the approved changes to transform the future of the Olympic Games bidding process.

At its 134th session in Lausanne, a working group set up by the Executive Board (EB), concluded on a number of key proposals to ensure better governance and an ongoing dialogue to explore and create interest amongst cities/countries and National Olympics Committees (NOCs) for Olympic and Youth Olympic Games.

Modifications to the Rules and Bye-laws of the Olympic Charter include:

Governance - Two Future Host Commissions, for Summer and Winter events, will be created to oversee interest in future Games and will replace the exisiting Evaluation Commissions for each edition of the Games. The Future Host Commissions will be made up of members who do not sit on the Executive Board. The IOC Executive Board will choose the members on each of the two Commissions, while officials will be removed from the panel if their city or country is among those to express an interest in hosting the Games.

Date of election - The requirement that an Olympic Games election must be held seven years before the event has been deleted.

Hosting entities - The EB can determine that “host” can also refer to other entities such as multiple cities, regions and/or countries.

Technical requirements – The provision of an Olympic Village, by the organising committee in the host city, to maximise the use of existing sports venues and infrastructure.

John Coates who chaired the Working Group for Future Games Election said ‘the new process will continue to reduce the cost of bidding.’ IOC President Thomas Bach also added “This is the evolution of the Olympic Agenda 2020 revolution, as we must continue to keep up with the fast pace of change in our current world.”

For more information visit the IOC statement here.