(ATR) The details of North Korea’s participation in the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics could be hammered out this week in the Olympic capital.
Four-party talks will be held in Lausanne on Jan. 20 organized by International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach.
The talks will determine "the number and names of athletes and officials from the NOC of [North Korea]" who will attend PyeongChang 2018, according to the IOC. The composition of a potential delegation is complicated by a number of United Nations Security Council sanctions on North Korea.
The IOC must also "decide on the format of participation, including questions related to the official protocol" for North Korean athletes. Protocols for North Korean athletes competing in South Korea are not unprecedented, and PyeongChang 2018 told Around the Rings it has been reviewing potential protocols with the South Korean ministry of unification.
IOC members Ung Chang from North Korea and Seung Min Ryu from South Korea will participate in the talks. They will be joined by PyeongChang 2018 officials, as well as the presidents of the North and South Korean National Olympic Committees. Government officials from both countries will round out the four-party talks. Bach will chair the meeting.
"I warmly welcome the joint proposals by the governments of the ROK and DPRK, which have been applauded by so many other governments worldwide," Bach said in a statement. "This is a great step forward in the Olympic spirit and in the spirit of the Olympic Truce Resolution passed by the General Assembly of the United Nations. Now the IOC must take the decisions to make this political commitment a reality."
Thus far, only a pair of North Korean figure skaters have qualified for PyeongChang 2018. However, North Korea missed a key deadline for registering the pair with the International Skating Union.
Whether the pair will compete in PyeongChang is up to the IOC, says the ISU. The federation said it welcomed talks between North and South Korea in a statement, and the pair of figure skaters "met all the necessary technical requirements to participate".
Around the Rings will be on the scene in the Olympic capital for the landmark inter-Korean talks.
AIBA Holds First Executive Meeting Without Wu
The International Boxing Association’s work to regain stability will be the primary focus of its Executive Committee meeting that begins Jan. 15 in Rome.
The two-day meeting of boxing executives will be the first gathering of AIBA’s leadership since former president C.K. Wu resigned in November after months of infighting and disputes about the finances of the federation.
AIBA, under the leadership of interim president Franco Falcinelli, began an extensive review of the finances in the months leading up to Wu’s resignation and has continued that work over the past two months.
The 22-member Executive Committee will receive updates on the efforts to re-establish financial stability and a better governance model during the meeting in Rome.
"This is the first EC meeting since C.K. Wu’s resignation so the first thing that needs to be done is to have the EC updated on the AIBA activity since his resignation," AIBA executive Pat Fiacco tells Around the Rings.
"We will also receive an update on the EC initiated governance model review from TSE, a top governance agency. We will also receive an update from the acting Interim President Franco Falcinelli."
Around the Rings is on the scene at the Sheraton Roma Hotel and Convention Center for the pivotal meeting of boxing’s new leadership.
EOC Executives Hold First 2018 Meeting
European Olympic Committees President Janez Kocijančič will lead his first Executive Committee meeting without the title of "acting" president this week.
Kocijančič was officially elected as head of the EOC on Nov. 24 after serving as the acting president for 15 months. Kocijančič stepped in to lead the organization after former EOC president Patrick Hickey was arrested in Rio de Janeiro on allegations of ticket touting during the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics.
The EOC will hold the first Executive Board meeting of 2018 on Jan. 18. The meeting will follow an Executive Board meeting of the EOC’s European Union office on Jan. 17, according to the EOC calendar.
Both of the meetings will be held in the Olympic capital of Lausanne.
Written by Aaron Bauer and Kevin Nutley
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