Sports politics
Push from the IOC for a longer Bach reign
Could possibly remain IOC President for longer: Thomas Bach. photo
© Cao Can/XinHua/dpa
Thomas Bach should actually vacate the office of IOC President in two years. Now there are calls from the wrestling circle for a change in the rules. Will Bach extend his reign?
“I am very touched by their support and friendship,” said Bach. According to the Olympic Charter, 2025 would actually be the end for the Würzburger as head of the world government of sport. But with the advance from the ranks of the IOC, the door could open for another term of office for Bach.
Mustapha Berraf as President of the Association of African National Olympic Committees, Luis Mejia Oviedo from the Dominican Republic and Aicha Garad Ali from Djibouti campaigned for reform of the IOC statutes. This would allow the wrestling circle to “go through this period of torment with a president who has shown his courage,” said the Algerian Berraf on behalf of the African IOC members.
Term of office actually limited
Flattered, Bach referred in his answer to his loyalty to the IOC charter, which actually limits the term of office of a president to a maximum of twelve years. Shortly before, however, IOC Vice President John Coates, a close confidante of Bach, had explained that a change to the rules would be entirely possible. This requires a written proposal 30 days before an IOC session, which must first be examined by the executive branch led by Bach.
IOC member Gianni Infantino recently showed how the rules can be adapted to suit the boss’s needs. Because his first three and a half years as president of the world football association are simply not counted, the Swiss can be elected to another term of office in 2027 in accordance with the statutes. “I thank you for your leadership,” Infantino paid homage to the IOC boss in Mumbai.
The IOC members decided on term limits in 1999 under great pressure in one of the most serious crises. At that time, the bribery scandal surrounding the awarding of the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City brought the umbrella organization into disrepute. For the then IOC Vice President Bach, the limit for terms of office was “an important step forward for the IOC,” as he told the newspaper “Die Welt” at the time.
At the top for ten years
In 2013, the 1976 Olympic fencing champion moved to the top of the IOC himself. In 2021 he was confirmed in office for another four years. Bach’s term of office was marked by the scandal surrounding Russia’s state doping, corruption scandals surrounding the games in Rio and Tokyo and the hardships of sport in the Corona crisis. The question of how to deal with Russian athletes amid the war of aggression in Ukraine has been dividing the sports world for months.
Just a few weeks ago, Bach jokingly said about his plans for the time after leaving the top IOC post that he would be “neither a coach, a sports director, nor a television expert.” But that time may not have come any time soon, even if World Gymnastics Federation head Morinari Watanabe warned in a cryptic way about a violation of the principles of “good governance”. But the Japanese also hastened to assure Bach: “I love you.”
End of hopes for possible heirs to the throne?
The change to the charter could be on the agenda at the next session shortly before the Summer Games in Paris in 2024. In 2025 in Athens, when Bach is supposed to make way for a new IOC chief, the session could instead become another coronation fair for the 69-year-old.
That would also be the end of the hopes for possible heirs to the throne such as Sebastian Coe, the President of the World Athletics Federation, and IOC Vice President Juan Antonio Samaranch Junior. Samaranch’s father is considered Bach’s pioneer in the Rings organization and ruled the IOC for 21 years.