International Olympic Committee

The International Olympic Committee is an organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin in 1894 to reinstate the Ancient Olympic Games held in Greece, and organise this sports event every four years.

History and Function

On June 23, 1894 the Olympic games were re-created by Pierre de Coubertin after a hiatus of 1500 years. The baron hoped to foster international communication and peace through the Olympic Games. The IOC is a parent organisation intended to localize administration and authority for the Games, as well as to provide a single legal entity which owns copyrights, trademarks, and other intangible properties associated with the Olympic games. For example, the Olympic logos, the design of the Olympic flag, the motto, creed, and anthem are all owned and administered by the IOC. There are other organisations which the IOC coordinates as well, which are collectively called the Olympic Movement. The IOC President is responsible for representing the IOC as a whole, and there are members of the IOC which represent the IOC in their respective countries.

Related Topics:
June 23 - 1894 - Copyrights - Trademarks

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Host city bids

Countries which wish to host the Summer Olympic Games or the Winter Olympic Games must bid for the organisation with the IOC, which has the ultimate authority of deciding where the Games will take place. The IOC members, representing most of the member countries, vote to decide where the Games will take place. By law, all IOC members must retire at the age of 81. Members from countries which have cities bidding to host the games are excluded from the voting process, up until the point where their city drops out of the contest.

Related Topics:
Summer Olympic Games - Winter Olympic Games

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Delegates

For most of its existence, the IOC was controlled by members who were co-opted, which means they were selected by other members. Countries that had hosted the Games were allowed two members, others one or none. When named, they became not representatives of their respective countries to the IOC, but rather to opposite, IOC members in their respective countries.

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For a long time, members of the royalty were popular targets of cooption, and there are still some around, like Prince Albert de Monaco, and then former athletes. Under the guidance of Baron Juan Antonio Samaranch, priority was given to sports leaders, like chairmen of International Sport Federations. Since the late 1990's, the membership was modified. Athletes and former athletes are nominated for eight years.

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Scandals

The IOC has been involved in a number of scandals, most involving members taking advantage of the bidding cities to extort financial and other rewards. The most widely publicised example occurred in relation to the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City but earlier stories, reported by British journalist Andrew Jennings, date back decades. After the Salt Lake City scandal, efforts were made to clamp down on the most blatant misbehaviour of IOC delegates (who used their position as voters for the host city to extract favours from bidders for the games), and an advisory board of recently retired former athletes has been set up. Critics of the organisation believe more fundamental reform is required, for instance replacing the self-perpetuating system of delegate selection with a more democratic process.

Related Topics:
The most widely publicised example - 2002 Winter Olympics - Salt Lake City - Andrew Jennings

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