SportAccord 2015: Vizer Calls for IOC to Give More Power to Federations
April 20, 2015
SportAccord president Marius Vizer has called for international federations to be given more power from the International Olympic Committee.
At the start of the 2015 SportAccord Convention in Sochi this week, Vizer used his opening comments to call for more Olympic revenue to be distributed to national sports federations and athletes.
The head of the body, which represents Olympic and non-Olympic sports, also insisted that serving sports officials should be guaranteed a majority of votes in the IOC.
Vizer had stern words for IOC president Thomas Bach’s Agenda 2020 review programme, which he said “hardly brings any real benefit to sport, international federations or athletes.
“It did not bring about more clear criteria, rules and principles. ‘You, all present, are the main constituents of the Olympic Movement’. Recommendation 9 and 10 of Agenda 2020 lead to a destabilizing of the Olympic sports.
“We must protect the Olympic sports and disciplines currently in the Olympic programme and at the same time we must encourage and support the new sports and disciplines who want to join. We are a united world sports family of Olympic and non-Olympic sports and we must act accordingly.”
In his speech to around 200 delegates at the Sochi Expocenter, Vizer also questioned the setup of an Olympic TV channel, a key part of Agenda 2020.
“The cost of more than 450 million dollars to establish a digital channel seems exaggerated,” he said.
“Do consult us as stakeholders of the Olympic Movement regarding all the proposals, contracts and partnerships that are being signed and make them transparent!”
Bach, who was in attendance, maintained that Vizer was entitled to his personal views on the subject but did not believe them to be representative of SportAccord’s member federations.
Following his stop in Sochi, Bach will return to Lausanne on Tuesday to meet Ukraine president Petro Porochenko.
It will be the first meeting of the two since Porochenko took office in June 2014. Among the topics of discussion will be how sport can unite the country while the current unrest continues.
Meanwhile, it was confirmed that the 2016 SportAccord convention would return to Sochi.
The full text of Marius Vizer’s opening speech at the 2015 SportAccord Convention can be seen here:http://www.sportaccord.com/
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