The first IOC Executive Board (EB) meeting of 2013 came to a close in Lausanne today (Feb 13) with the announcement that Buenos Aires (ARG), Glasgow (GBR), and Medellín (COL) have been shortlisted to host the 3rd Summer Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in 2018. OCI President Pat Hickey is a member of the EB.
An Evaluation Commission will now conduct further assessments of the three short listed Candidate Cities before submitting a report to the IOC members, who will elect the host city at an Extraordinary Session in Lausanne on 4 July 2013.
Also during its two-day meeting, the EB agreed on the 25 sports that it will propose to the 125th IOC Session for approval as the core sports for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games.
The EB took decisions in two disciplinary cases: Russian weightlifter Oleg Perepetchenov was disqualified from the Athens 2004 Olympic Games and the EB also issued strong warnings to Korean footballer Jongwoo Park and the Korean Olympic Committee (KOC) for inappropriate behaviour by the athlete during the London 2012 Olympic Games.
In another decision, the EB adopted a set of stringent rules concerning the prohibition on betting linked to next year’s Olympic Winter Games in Sochi and any form of betting-related cheating affecting the results of Olympic competitions. The text applies to all participants in the Olympic Games and defines the different forms of violations, the range of measures and sanctions, and the disciplinary procedures.
Issues involving a number of National Olympic Committees (NOCs) were also reviewed, including those affecting the NOCs of India and Pakistan.
The EB also heard a report from Sponsorship Intelligence, which conducted a global study on the perception of the Olympic brand after the London 2012 Olympic Games. The Olympic rings remain one of the world’s most widely recognised symbols. When asked, 95 per cent of respondents correctly identified the Olympic rings.
The study was conducted across 16 markets world-wide and included 12,000 individuals. It found that the Olympic Games’ global stature was also heightened by an increase in global TV coverage. Coverage increased from 62,000 hours for Beijing 2008 to 100,000 hours for London 2012, with global reach rising from 3.5 billion viewers to 3.7 billion.
Progress reports on the preparations for the Olympic Games in Sochi 2014, Rio de Janeiro 2016 and PyeongChang 2018 were also given to the EB.
