ASOIF General Assembly elects three Council members and approves new memberships
The 47th General Assembly of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) convened today in Lausanne, Switzerland, and elected Ingmar De Vos (International Equestrian Federation), Petra Sörling (International Table Tennis Federation) and Morinari Watanabe (International Gymnastics Federation) as Council members for a four-year term. Ingmar De Vos and Morinari Watanabe were re-elected for a second term of office, Petra Sörling succeeds Marisol Casado (World Triathlon) who has finished her final term.
The General Assembly also granted the Full Membership status to the International Federation of Sport Climbing, the International Surfing Association and World Skate, and admitted the World Baseball Softball Confederation as an Associate Member.
The meeting, which coincided with ASOIF’s 40th anniversary, opened with a speech by Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), who complimented ASOIF on its achievements and contribution to the Olympic Movement over the past four decades. He highlighted the indispensable role of the IFs in delivering and modernising the Olympic Games, best illustrated during the preparations for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games which were held under unprecedented circumstances during the global COVID-19 pandemic. The IOC President also thanked the IFs for their collaboration on the topic of the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in international competitions and acknowledged there was no easy solution. He stressed the importance of safeguarding the autonomy of sport organisations and of bringing the world together peacefully at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
ASOIF President Francesco Ricci Bitti, who led the General Assembly, said in this regard: “The political situation is complex and obviously we don’t know exactly how things will evolve until the Opening Ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. It’s important to keep different options open – with the qualification period for Paris 2024 being in full swing and with the sports having specific characteristics and different qualification processes. It’s also essential to prevent government interference and protect the IFs’ self-determination so they can deliver their international competitions properly. We all aim to make the Paris 2024 Olympic Games a success.”
The Paris 2024 Olympic Games Organising Committee, led by its President Tony Estanguet, also joined the General Assembly, to report about the latest progress in the preparations for next year’s Games. Tony Estanguet highlighted the recent successes of the Paris 2024 ticketing programme with 6.8 million tickets sold in the first phase, the volunteer programme which attracted 300,000 candidatures and its several engagement initiatives under the motto “Games Wide Open”. The delegation also provided detailed updates on several items particularly important to the IFs, such as the transport system, pre-Games testing activities, contingency plans and sport initiation.
Meanwhile, the ASOIF members approved the Paris 2024 Olympic Games International Federation (IF) revenue share scheme which will be applied to the final total figure to be decided by the IOC following the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
In order to enable more flexibility as well as continuity, the General Assembly also agreed on certain amendments to the ASOIF Statutes, including the possibility for the incumbent ASOIF President to complete the respective term of office and be renominated (by the IF) even if he or she ceases to have a role within the IF’s executive body.
With governance remaining a top priority for ASOIF and its members, the delegates were updated on the upcoming fifth review of IF governance to be launched in October, led by ASOIF’s Governance Task Force. The new assessment will include substantial changes to its methodology, taking into account the latest evolutions in sport governance. Details were discussed with the IFs during a dedicated workshop last month.
In addition, the General Assembly received updates from the IOC on matters related to the IFs and the Olympic Games, as well as from the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee, the Los Angelese 2028 Olympic Games Organising Committee, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the International Testing Agency (ITA).
The meeting was livestreamed on YouTube.