(ATR) Reports on anti-doping and the situation with the International Boxing Association will dominate the first day of the upcoming IOC Executive Board meeting.
The board will meet for the first time since December, when it decided to suspend the Russian Olympic Committee and only allow athletes from Russia to compete as neutral competitors. Since that decision a number of Russian athletes were barred from competition for life by the IOC and has Sochi 2014 results annulled.
Those decisions were partially overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport yesterday. Of the 39 athletes that appealed IOC decisions, 28 had their appeals upheld by CAS, while 11 had appeals partially upheld. The 11 athletes saw their Sochi 2014 results annulled and bans for PyeongChang upheld, but the lifetime bans were reversed.
Originally, the board expected to hear reports from the World Anti-Doping Agency, the Independent Testing Authority, pre-Games testing plans, and the Olympic Athletes from Russia implementation group. Now it is understood that the board will discuss the next steps after the CAS ruling.
IOC spokesperson Mark Adams raised the idea of appealing the CAS decision to the Swiss Federal Tribunal in a press conference following the decision. WADA, in a statement, said it "supports the IOC’s intention to analyze these decisions very carefully and consider all options," including appeals.
During a report on the Summer Olympic federations the board will be delivered a report from the IOC Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer. The report comes after AIBA elected Gafur Rakhimov as its new interim president. Rakhimov has been barred from travelling to the United States by its Treasury Department for alleged links to organized crime.
Previously the IOC Executive Board required AIBA to fulfill 10 requirements to show its commitment to governance reform. Until those conditions are met, all IOC funds to the federation have been frozen.
Ending the day will be reports from all of the upcoming Olympic Game host cities, including a final report on the PyeongChang 2018 Olympics.
Korea Increasing IOC Influence
On the eve of the 2018 IOC Session in PyeongChang, South Korean officials are reportedly lobbying to secure a permanent IOC member.
Currently South Korea has one member, Seung Min Ryu. He is a member of the athlete’s commission, meaning he will only serve one eight year term. South Korea’s last permanent IOC member Kun Hee Lee stepped down in 2017 after a health incident in 2014 prevented him from carrying out his duties.
"We will start discussing ways to help a South Korean become a new IOC member after the Feb. 9-25 PyeongChang Olympics," an official at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said to Yonhap.
South Korean media reported that figure skater Yuna Kim could be floated as a possible candidate for membership. Kim is 27 years old and could serve for over 40 years in the body. A spokesperson for Kim did not return requests for comment about the possibility.
The next IOC Session will be on the sidelines of the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires.
Written by Aaron Bauer in PyeongChang
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