ASOIF President Denis Oswald Quits Clearing Path for Successor

President of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) Denis Oswald has sent a letter to the 28 member federations to announce his resignation.

Oswald explained in his letter dated Jan. 26 that he was quitting to allow for a smooth succession at the Quebec meeting on May 22. His resignation, medicine which comes into effect on Dec. 31, is aimed at ensuring ASOIF keeps a presence on the IOC Executive Board when the Swiss finishes his term this summer. 

The IOC has apparently agreed to him staying on the EB until the end of the year when the new head of ASOIF will take over. 

His successor will be elected at the ASOIF General Assembly on May 22 which will take place in Quebec City during SportAccord.

ASOIF director Andrew Ryan explained that should an IOC member be elected as the new ASOIF President, they would also promoted to his seat on the Executive Board.

“Providing that an IOC member replaces Denis as ASOIF President, they also take his seat on the IOC Executive Board effective of January 2013,” Ryan told insidethegames.

“But if his successor is not an IOC member, ASOIF will nominate a President from one of our federations to represent the ASOIF concerns on the Executive Board.

“All the nominations for the position of ASOIF President are due no later than 15 days before the ASOIF General Assembly, which will be May 7.

“Also, in order to prevent this situation occurring again, we will slightly change our regulations for the future to ensure we elect a new President in the year of the Olympic Games to ensure the ASOIF seat on the Executive Board.”

Given that a prestigious Executive Board seat is on offer, there is likely to be a number of candidates in the IOC that will put themselves forward for the high-ranking position of ASOIF President.

One of the leading candidates for the position is likely to be IOC member and International Cycling Union (UCI) President Pat McQuaid of Ireland, who is currently the ASOIF vice-president.

International Triathlon Union (ITU) President Marisol Casado of Spain and Ukrainian International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) vice-president Sergey Bubka are also tipped to be strong contenders if they put themselves for the position as both are currently on the eight-member ASOIF Council and also members of the IOC.

For the elections of ASOIF President, an absolute majority vote in the secret ballot is required.

If no candidate reaches an absolute majority, the candidate obtaining the smallest number of votes in each ballot shall be eliminated until one candidate obtains an absolute majority.

The ASOIF President is eligible for immediate re-election only twice, meaning that the victorious candidate in Quebec City could potentially sit on the IOC Executive Board for an interrupted period of eight years if they serve two consecutive terms in office.