Reference is the action of referring to something. It is also authority, the text that we are referring to or the precise indication that allows us to refer to a passage of a text that was quoted. We can use as references brands, people and, in sport, stars.

For Olympism the reference are the Games and, in particular, the International Olympic Committee. The Olympic Games of Antiquity were born in 776 BC, according to tradition (1). They combined sport competitions and athletics, with ceremonies honouring divinities. The Olympic Truce was imposed on the Greek world during the period of the Games. The last regular Olympic Games of Antiquity were held around 261 BC. In 393 BC, Theodosius the Great forbid the Olympic Games and the cult of Greek gods.

1. Chronology and evolution of the modern Games

a. Creation and first steps

Baron Pierre de Coubertin convened on the 16th to the 24th of June 1894, an international Athletic Congress of Paris, an international congress of sports, on the pretext of discussing the problem of amateurism (2). On the last day, he held a solemn session and convinced the audience to revive the Games of Antiquity, setting up for this purpose an “International Olympic Committee”.

The staging of the first Games was entrusted to Athens (3) and the Greek Dimitrios Vikelas was appointed as the first President of the Committee (4). The Games of the 2nd Olympiad, which were entrusted to Paris, on Coubertin’s request, were drowned in a universal exhibition, as was the case with the 3rd Olympiad in Saint Louis in 1940. It was only in London, in 1908, that we could see that there were Olympic Games, despite the feminist demonstrations of the “suffragettes”. Stockholm followed in 1912 (5).

World War I, which lasted from August 1914 to November 1918, might have led to the end of the Olympic adventure, but Coubertin made sure that Berlin would not appropriate the Games and the headquarters of the Committee. The city of Lausanne has hosted the provisional headquarters of the IOC since 1915.

b. Consolidation

After the war, Olympism resumed its course and the Games were awarded to the city of Antwerp, in Belgium, where they were held in 1920.

The five coloured rings on a white background, which were shown for the first time in Paris, in 1914, became the official symbol together wiht the Olympic flag; in Antwerp, in 1920, Victor Boin took the first Olympic oath.

The Paris Games in 1924, followed by the Games of Amsterdam in 1928, were held without any serious incidents, apart from the participation of women in athletics. After the Games of 1932, in Los Angeles, those of 1936 had been awarded to Berlin. Hitler’s rise to power, in 1933 and the excesses of his regime made people fear the worst.

The Count of Baillet-Latour, who had succeeded Pierre de Coubertin in 1925, negotiated with the new political leaders and the Games were held without any serious incidents. World War II, however, from 1939 to 1945, raised new serious concerns about the future of the Games (11).

c. Reconstruction

After being awarded to London, as well as Antwerp in 1920, the Games resumed their course in 1948. According to the opinion of many people, the Helsinki Games were those that mostly conformed to the Olympic ideal. They were held in Melbourne, Australia, for the first time in 1956. In 1960, Rome experienced the scandal of the Olympic village and the excesses of property developers. Tokyo organized the Games of 1964 (5). The Mexico Games in 1968 were joyful, despite the demonstrations of students and “Black Power” (6).

d. Consolidation and politics

In Munich, in 1972, the Games were plunged into mourning after the Palestinian attack against the Israeli team (7). Before the Games of 1976, which were awarded to Montreal, President Lord Killanin had to invoke the Olympic Charter and the supreme authority of the IOC in order to claim the broadcasting rights for television (and the other media), which the OCOG wanted to appropriate.

Political problems have always perturbed the Games: China excluded Taipei (Taiwan) from the Games in 1976; African countries demanded South Africa’s exclusion because of the apartheid. In 1980, despite the boycott of the United States, many National Olympic Committees took part in the Games in Moscow against their government’s opinion.

e. Sponsoring, television and present time

Disappointed by these difficulties, Lord Killanin did not take part in the elections. Juan Antonio Samaranch changed the IOC’s sporting and financial policy by opening the Games to professionals and relying on sponsoring and TV rights (Los Angeles 1996, Sydney 2000), Athens 2004) (9). President Jacques Rogge hardly changed the management for Beijing 2008 and London 2012. In the meantime, the Winter Games were staged, since 1924 in Chamonix. All this concerns the Games (10).

2. The elaboration of the fundamental principles

In his Olympic Memoirs (2), the renovator of the Games recalls the progress of the Congress of 1894 and the revival of the Games:

Regarding the Olympic Games, they followed me almost without discussion. I was able to pass successively the fundamental principles, which I had decided in my mind:

• the four years interval

• the exclusively modern character of the competitions

• the exclusion of schools

• the appointment of an international committee

– permanent in its principle

– stable in its composition

– which members would be the representatives of Olympism

in their respective countries.

He added:

“The principle of roving games was adopted without raising too many objections. This was essential for, otherwise, no country would accept the cost. Greece in any case was exonerated for technical and financial reasons.”

Whereas most of these principles only concerned the Games, during a meeting at Dimitrios Vikelas house, the “edifice of the IOC” and its principles were definitively “cemented” on Coubertin’s insistence, who wanted a “mobile” presidency, which would belong “by right” to the nationality of the Olympiad.

Anything that could consolidate the ‘international character’ of the cycle that was open seemed to be extremely important to me. Vikelas would have to assume his duties until the end of the year 1896 and I would then succeed him for four years.

In order to complete the IOC’s façade, he imposed on members the “armour of absolute independence by refusing access to any delegate, whoever he was, and the payment of any subsidy, whatever its origin”.

Only Coubertin’s texts (3) allow us to claim that the committee had adopted certain rules from the beginning:

• first of all, for setting up an international Olympic committee:

– composed of financially independent persons

– having, in principle, no political connections

– with members chosen for their international spirit

– because they were free of any economic and political influence

– capable of defending anything that was in the interest of the Olympic Movement, even against their own country or against the particular sport or sports in which they were personally interested

– then, for the establishment of an Olympic Movement whose main event would be, originally, the celebration, every four years, each time in a different country, of international Olympic Games.

As Brundage wrote in 1959 (8):

The IOC’s first duty was not only to establish the fundamental principles of the huge structure of the Olympic Movement, but also to set up the organization of the Games, organize the participation of different countries and ensure the technical supervision of the events.

In 1896, there were no international federations, apart from gymnastics and rowing, and no national federations. In his capacity as the committee’s Secretary, Coubertin had to deal with all the organization, assisting the Greek President Vikelas.

A “council of twelve” formed commissions for each sport, organized the protocol for the ceremonies, the hoisting of each winner’s national flag, etc. The program that was published by the council of twelve, following the approval of the IOC’s board, was only legally enforceable by President Vikelas’ signature. “It was a decisive turning point and I was resolved to leave no opportunity to reaffirm the IOC’s preponderance, which was still frail and unglamorous” (2).

The first change of the principles adopted in 1894 was that of the presidency. Coubertin should have been elected for four years but was elected for eight and re-elected until his resignation in 1925. The General Assembly or Session and the Congresses should be convened on the President’s notification. Members who had not sent to the President at least one annual report or neglected, without a valid excuse, to assist or be represented at the Olympic Games were considered as resigning.

Another problem arose in Athens on 14 April 1896: After having been reticent, Greece now wanted the Games to be celebrated regularly on its territory. The IOC unanimously decided not to change the rules adopted in Paris. The Games should not belong to one country even if it was Greece, and so the proposal which had been made with popular enthusiasm and on the request of the king of Greece, George the 1st, was dismissed. It was presented again, in the 1980s by Karamanlis, the President of the Republic, because of the boycott. After the first sessions of Paris in 1894 and Athens in 1896, the IOC was convened in Havre in 1897 and in Paris on 21 May 1901.

The choice of the organizing city is a prerogative of the IOC, provided in its regulations and then in the Charter. In 1901, in Paris, the Games of 1904 were awarded to Chicago and the program was discussed. The problem of amateurism was raised and Coubertin insisted that professional competitions should be less prominent and less important than the amateur events.

Chicago demanded the postponement of the Games to 1905, but this proposal was considered unacceptable and the Games were awarded to Saint Louis (Paris 1903) and held there in 1904.

The first regulation which was published and found dates back to 1908. It contains three pages and specifies the objective, the recruiting, the meetings and the administration of the IOC, as follows:

The International Olympic Committee to which the International Congress of Paris entrusted the mission of watching over the development of the Olympic Games, which were solemnly re-established on June 24, 1894, intends to:

1. ensure the regular celebration of the Games

2. make this celebration more and more perfect, worthy of its glorious past and in keeping with the lofty ideas which inspired its renovators

3. plan or organize all the events and take, in general, all appropriate measures with a view to directing modern sport to desirable paths.

The Games would be celebrated every four years, but the headquarters of the IOC should “fluctuate” at the same time as the Presidency.

At the Paris Games in 1900, Coubertin, who lived in Paris, established the headquarters in his home. In 1914, because of the war, an interim President, de Blonay, was appointed and then the headquarters were moved to Switzerland, in Lausanne. The final transfer took place in 1921, upon which the regulation mentioned for the first time the registered office in Lausanne (11).

In 1972, on the initiative of President Brundage and following a proposal of the Belgian NOC, Article 1 defined the essential objective of the Olympic Movement and its fundamental principles:

• promote the development of physical and moral qualities, which are the foundation of amateur sport

• educate youth through sport in a spirit of better mutual understanding and friendship, thus contributing to building a peaceful and better world

• make known the Olympic principles worldwide in order to arouse international goodwill,

and only fourthly

“to bring together the athletes of the world at the great sports festival, the Olympic Games”.

The concept of the Charter was taken from Coubertin’s first ideas by Lord Killanin and its Director Monique Berlioux in 1974. They wanted to include in the Charter a few short and general provisions, fundamental principles, which would be completed by by-laws, in a compendium annexed to the Charter (12).

3. The IOC references fundamental principles and their respect

There are nine fundamental principles in the Charter, followed by the regulation that defines the Olympic Movement, the International Olympic Committee, the National Olympic Committees and the Olympic Games.

As the rules and statutes evolved first and then the Olympic Charter, these fundamental principles were drawn up by Coubertin and then, on his recommendations and those of the successive Presidents and congresses were voted by the Session in order to come to the text that governs the Olympic Movement.

The changes in the Charter or the regulation are discussed during the sessions and congresses, and voted by the Session. They are then inserted in the published text and thus become compulsory (12).

Since 1972, the Charter does not aim the staging of the Olympic Games, in the first place; they are only one of the facets of Olympism. The objective of the Olympic Movement is broader and more complex and also nobler: work for international peace and the world in general (12). These fundamental principles apply to the whole of the Olympic Movement.

The Olympic Movement does not consist only of one committee, the International Olympic Committee, but includes the National Olympic Committees, the International Sport Federations and the members of these entities, which are the same. The National Sport Federations are members of the National Olympic Committees and the International Sport Federations. All athletes, in all the countries of the world, depend on and are part of the Movement. They are subject to the fundamental principles of Olympism.

The International Olympic Committee is the only qualified entity whose objective is to manage sport in the whole world and submit it to these principles. Like the United Nations Organization which proposes to manage the world at political level, the objective of the International Olympic Committee is to manage sport in the world. Every International Sport Federation governs its sport at technical level. The National Olympic Committees or the inter- federal groups manage sport in their country as well as national legislation and regulation, which are answerable to national parliaments and governments. The fundamental principles of sport in the world have the International Olympic Committee as their only and true reference.

Next to the annual sessions of the IOC, there also are the congresses that were frequently held in the beginning and then forgotten, until the congresses of Varna in 1973, then Baden-Baden in 1981, the congress of unity in Paris in 1994 and the last in Copenhagen in 2009.

Doping is a pertinent example. After the awful death of athletes in the Olympic Games or the Tour de France in cycling and elsewhere, the International Olympic Committee decided to deal with the problem of doping in sport. To this end, it formed a medical commission that was run for a long time by Prince Alexandre de Mérode. His example was followed by the International Sport Federations.

The list of forbidden substances, which was discussed at length, was finally adopted worldwide, based on the list established by the IOC’s Medical Commission. All International Sport Federations joined it and it is the base for fighting doping under the aegis of the IOC and followed by UNESCO, by sport federations, the governments and even national legislations sometimes.

No other authority can or could lead sport at global level like the IOC.

• International Sport Federations govern their sport at technical level

• National governments and parliaments legislate in their respective countries

• The European Parliament and the Commission govern the member countries of the Union in Europe

Only the IOC has the international vocation to govern sport and do it at ethical level. It is the reference regarding the fundamental principles of sport.

It is also a reference for respecting these principles, even if International and National Federations are competent for applying sanctions.

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Bibliography

1. Nicholas Yalouris and Otto Szymiczek (eds.), The Olympic Games in Ancient Greece. Ancient Olympia and the Olympic Games. Ekdotike Athinon, 1994. A collective volume under of direction of Nicholas Yalouris, first director of the National Archaeological Museum in Athens and Vice President of the IOA, with Otto Szymiczek as co-editor, Rector of the IOA, also with the collaboration of Kleanthis Paleologos, Vice-Rector of the IOA; Moses I. Finley and H.W. Pleket, Mille ans de jeux olympiques 776 av. J.-C./261 ap J.-C., Perrin 2008.

2. Pierre de Coubertin, Mémoires olympiques, Paris.

3. Les jeux olympiques à Athènes, Ch. Beck, éditeur, 1896 ; Michael Llewellyn Smith, Olympics in Athens 1896, The Invention of the Modern Olympic Games, Profile Books 2004; Konstantinos Georgiadis, curator of IOA, Olympic Revival, Ekdotike Athenon SA, Athens, 2004.

4. Petros Linardos, From the Vision to the Reality: Dimitrios Vikelas, Ministère hellénique de la culture 2002.

5. Monique Berlioux, Olympica, Flammarion, 1964, Paris.

6. Lord Killanin and John Rodda, The Olympic Games, Barrie and Jenkins Ltd, London 1976, with the collaboration of Monique Berlioux, Cleanthis Paleologos, Otto Szymiczek, Gaston Meyer, Philippe Noel Baker.

7. Munich 1972: Walter Umminger, Die Olympischen Spiele der Neu Zeit, Deutsche olympische gesellschaft 1969, Olympische Sportverlag Dortmund; Serge Groussard, La médaille de sang, Denoel, Paris, 1973.

8. Avery Brundage, Discours du président Avery Brundage de 1952 à 1968, Comité international olympique.

9. Kristin Otto and Heinz Florian Oertel, Athens 2004. Unser Olympiabuch das neue Berlin Verlagsgesellschaft MBH, Berlin, 2004.

10. John E. Finding and Kimberley D. Pelle, Encyclopedia of the Modern Olympic Movement, Greenwood Press, Westport, USA, 2004.

11. Otto Mayer, A travers les anneaux olympiques, Pierre Cailler, Genève, 1960; Gaston Meyer, Le phénomène olympique, La table ronde, Paris, 1960.

12. Charte Olympique, CIO.

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SILANCE Maître Luc,"The International Olympic Committee as a reference point for the respect of  fundamental principles",in:K.Georgiadis (ed.), Olympic Movement: The process of renewal adaption, 55thInternational Session for Young Participants (Ancient Olympia,23/5-6/6/2015),InternationalOlympic Academy, Athens, 2016, pp.76-85.

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