It is always a great pleasure to be in Ancient Olympia, a site that holds so much symbolic meaning for the whole of civilisation and for the Olympic Movement. As we all know, the Ancient Greeks were most famous for their ideas and philosophies on politics and government. The ancient Greek civilisation also celebrated the first Olympic Games.

This brings me to the subject which I will be discussing here today: the politics and governance of the Olympic Movement. It is an interesting and challenging topic, but also a timely one in light of the reforms which are currently underway and which will shape the direction of the International Olympic Committee and the Olympic Movement for years to come.

But first, let me give you a brief overview of the IOC, its vision and its mission, even though I am sure many of you are familiar with it already.

The IOC, a non-governmental organisation, heads up the Olympic Movement. Placing sport at the service of humanity, using the Olympic values to promote better understanding between people, fostering the development of humanity and championing peace lie at the heart of the Olympic Movement’s mission.

These are fundamental principles laid down by our Olympic Charter, as is the principle which states that by blending sport with culture and education, Olympism seeks to create a way of life based on the joy of effort, the educational value of a good example, social responsibility, and respect for universal fundamental ethical principles.

For more than a century, with its partners in the Olympic Movement, the IOC has been using sport to improve lives and promote positive social change.

We have promoted access to sport and physical activity for all. We have worked to promote gender equality, to enable youth education and empowerment, to encourage healthy and active lifestyles, and to support community development as well as reconciliation and peace-building.

We have fought to protect the integrity of sport, to improve transparency and good governance, and to implement sustainability and environmental measures in the sports sector.

All these areas are covered by the three pillars of Olympic Agenda 2020: sustainability, youth and credibility. Together, these pillars offer us a strategic roadmap for shaping the future of the Olympic Movement, for protecting the uniqueness of the Olympic Games, for safeguarding the relevance of the Olympic values in society, and—above all—for ensuring and strengthening the role and place of sport in society.

In terms of credibility—which is the pillar that ties in most with the topic of my presentation—this means living up to the values we promote by matching our actions with our words.

Because, as a values-based organisation, the IOC has a particular obligation to set a standard of good governance for the entire Olympic Movement.

Our Movement and sport in general have a special place in the global political and legal environment. The rules of sport were established and are enforced by an autonomous sporting structure that acts independently of any government or legal entity.

That governments respect the autonomy of sport is a must. But this does not mean that sport is beyond the law. The IOC and the other sports organisation are not supra-national parliaments and have no remit to intervene in the governance or legislation of sovereign nations; they have neither the mandate nor the capability to change the laws or the political system of a sovereign country.

It also means that sport—i.e. each sporting organisation—must show that it is worthy of respect by demonstrating responsible behaviour and good governance.

Good governance is not just the right thing to do; it is essential for the longterm viability of the Olympic Movement.

The IOC’s responsibility in this area starts within the IOC itself and extends to every organisation within the Olympic Movement. We must also ensure that ethical principles and good governance are respected by sports managers, agents and other actors in the athletes’ entourage.

As Thomas Bach said at the Olympic Congress in Copenhagen in 2009, when he was IOC Vice-President:

We should go a step further in order to ensure that the ethical principles enshrined in the Olympic Charter are respected by sports organisations at all levels and that they are all committed to the principles of good governance.

The Congress therefore called on all members of the Olympic Movement to adopt the Basic Universal Principles of Good Governance of the Olympic and Sports Movement. The rationale for Recommendation 41 proposed by the Congress is worth repeating here:

The legitimacy and autonomy of the Olympic Movement depends on upholding the highest standards of ethical behaviour and good governance [...] All members of the Olympic Movement must always demonstrate integrity, accountability and transparency, as well as the highest level of management skills and they must ensure that at all times their legal status is both fully consistent with their activities and responsibility and wholly compliant with the laws of the land.

Good governance is now included in the Fundamental Principles of Olympism.

With its Olympic Agenda 2020, the IOC has continued to recognize that ethical behaviour starts with a clear commitment to high ethical standards and a culture of transparency.

In application of Recommendation 27 of Olympic Agenda 2020, the IOC proposes a list of principles and elements to be mutually recognized and respected by NOCs and the competent government authorities. The consolidated minimum requirements for the implementation of the Basic Principles of Good Governance are also available to the NOCs and include a self-evaluation tool.

As I stand here before you today, the IOC has already implemented all the good governance measures called for under Olympic Agenda 2020.

Let me give you some examples.

All our accounts are audited according to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), which are much more demanding that the standards we are legally required to implement.

The IOC now also produces an annual activity and financial report, which included the allowance policy for IOC members.

We have separated the Audit Committee from the Finance Commission.

We have appointed a Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer and we have an independent internal auditor.

The IOC follows the internationally recognized “Three Lines of Defence” model for risk management and assurance systems.

We have changed the system with regard to the IOC Ethics Commission, which is now elected by the full membership of the IOC Session and is no longer appointed.

Finally, we launched an Integrity and Compliance Hotline last year, which whistle-blowers can use to share information.

These are just some examples, and we expect other sports organisations like International Federations and National Olympic Committees to follow our lead. Many have already done so.

Indeed, the Governance Task Force of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) has developed five governance principles and 50 measurable indicators tailored to the nature and needs of sports organisations.

The ASOIF also incorporated principles and indicators into a self-assessment questionnaire which member IFs could use between November 2016 and March 2017 to measure the current state of governance within their organisations. All 28 Summer IFs responded and completed the questionnaire. The next steps will be to compile best-practice examples and to meet the IFs to review their governance assessments individually.

Turning to the NOCs, an online tool on good governance developed by the NOC Relations Department to enhance their understanding of the minimum requirements in the application of the PGG, it allows the NOCs to run self-evaluations which will allow them to assess their level of compliance with the minimum requirements and to draw up a list of actions designed to fill the gaps between the actual situation and the expected level of good governance.

In short, good governance is vital if we are to maintain our autonomy and provide no possible justification for outside interference.

As I said earlier, if we expect the world of politics (i.e. governments and national authorities) to respect the autonomy of sport, it is only natural for our stakeholders from politics and society to expect the world of sport to be run according to standards of good governance.

Only in this way can we, as sports organisations, maintain our credibility in the eyes of the public; particularly as we are living in a world where people have high hopes and even higher expectations of sports organisations—and rightly so.

The role of sport in society is more relevant today than ever before. Consequently, sports organisations everywhere need to justify the trust that people have placed in sport.

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RAMSAMY Sam,"Politics and Governance in the Olympic Movement", in:K. Georgiadis(ed.), Ethics,Education and Governance in the Olympic Movement, 57thInternational Session for Young Participants (Ancient Olympia,17/6-1/7/2017),International Olympic Academy, Athens, 2018, pp.131-135.

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