ASOIF General Assembly elects Ingmar De Vos as its future President

The 48th General Assembly of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) convened today in Birmingham, United Kingdom, and unanimously elected Ingmar De Vos (International Equestrian Federation (FEI)) as its next President. The third term of incumbent President Francesco Ricci Bitti will come to an end on 31 December 2024. Ingmar De Vos ran unopposed and was elected by secret ballot for a term of four years, starting on 1 January 2025.

The Belgian has served as FEI President since 2014 and as ASOIF Council member since 2019. Since 2017 he is a Member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Incumbent President Francesco Ricci Bitti, who led the meeting, said after the election: “Having had the pleasure to work with Ingmar, I know that he has the experience, stamina and human qualities to lead our organisation. It is also great to know that he enjoys the full support of our membership – something which is key for success. This is a good day for ASOIF and the Olympic Movement.”

“I am humbled by today’s result and would like to express my deep gratitude to the Summer Olympic International Federations for their trust,” said Ingmar De Vos after the election. “I am fully aware of the fact that I have big shoes to fill and during my mandate I will make it my mission to continue strengthening the role of the Summer International Sports Federations in the Olympic Movement and focus on an open and constructive dialogue with the IOC.”

© ASOIF | Jon Super

In another significant decision, the General Assembly today excluded the International Boxing Association (IBA) as ASOIF Member, in line with the ASOIF Statutes. This move follows the CAS decision of 2 April, dismissing IBA’s appeal against the IOC decision to withdraw IBA’s recognition as the International Federation (IF) for Olympic boxing. Previously, ASOIF had already suspended IBA’s Full Member’s rights.

The General Assembly also approved certain Statute amendments, which, amongst others, aim to clarify the start and expiry date for Associate Membership given the increasingly dynamic Olympic Programme. Subsequently and in view of LA28, the General Assembly granted the Associate Membership to the International Cricket Council (ICC), the International Federation of American Football (IFAF), World Lacrosse and World Squash, taking effect on 1 January 2025.

The ASOIF membership also received in-person reports from the Olympic Games Organising Committees for Paris 2024 and LA28. With less than four months to go until Paris 2024, the Organising Committee, led by its President Tony Estanguet, updated the General Assembly on the latest Games preparations. The focus was on several items particularly important to the IFs, such as venue infrastructure, transport, test events, sports presentation, sustainability considerations and knowledge transfer to future organisers. The next milestone will be the lighting of the Olympic flame in Olympia on 16 April 2024.

Finally, with governance remaining a top priority for ASOIF and its members, the delegates were updated on the ongoing fifth review of IF governance, led by ASOIF’s Governance Task Force. This iteration introduced ten new indicators in addition to the 50 indicators from the fourth edition to ensure the questionnaire remains up to date and takes account of the latest evolutions in sport governance. The results are due to be published in June.

In addition, the General Assembly received updates from the IOC on matters related to the IFs and the Olympic Games, the Dakar 2026 Organising Committee for the Youth Olympic Games, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the International Testing Agency (ITA).

Today’s meeting took place during the SportAccord World Sport & Business Summit and was livestreamed on YouTube.