IOC Executive Board Proposes New Members For Election To Session In Mumbai

IOC Executive Board proposes new members for election to Session in Mumbai (Image Source: IANS)

The IOC Executive Board: The Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Friday agreed to propose eight new IOC Members for election at the 141st IOC Session, which will meet in Mumbai from October 15 to 17 this year.

The IOC Executive Board (EB) made this proposal following the recommendations of the IOC Members Election Commission.

The EB also proposed the re-election of seven IOC Members within the age limit, as well as the extension of the terms of office of two IOC Members, the organisation informed in a release after a virtual meeting of the IOC Executive Board on Friday.

The EB approved the nomination of eight candidates – four women and four men – for election as IOC Members by the upcoming Session.

Five candidates, three women and two men, have been proposed as Independent Individuals. They are Yael Arad of Isreal, Balazs Fueries of Hungary, Cecilia Roxana Tait Villacorta of Peru, Michelle Yeoh of Malaysia, and Michael Mronz of Germany, whose nomination is possible in accordance with Rule 16.1.1. of the Olympic Charter. The rule allows for up to seven IOC Members to be elected in special cases without a nationality or National Olympic Committee (NOC) requirement.

Two candidates, one woman and one man, have been proposed linked to their functions within an International Federation (IF) --Petra Sorling of Sweden, President of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) and Jae Youl Kim of Republic of Korea, President of the International Skating Union (ISU).

Also proposed for election is Mehrez Boussayene, President of the Comité National Olympique Tunisien as per his function within a National Olympic Committee (NOC):

The candidates have been subject to integrity checks conducted by the IOC Ethics Commission.

The IOC also decided to propose for re-election of seven IOC members including Nawal El Moutawakel of Morocco, Prince Albert II of Monaco and the Grand Duke of Luxembourg with the age limit taken into consideration.

IOC President Thomas Bach said: “These candidates bring added value to the work of the IOC because of their experience and diverse expertise in different walks of life. What they all have in common is their love of sport and their strong belief in the Olympic values and what the IOC stands for. Furthermore, the selection of four women reinforces the IOC’s commitment to gender equality by increasing the membership to 44 women, which brings the percentage of women up to 41.1 per cent.”