ASOIF Council meets ahead of leadership change
The Council of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) convened today in Lausanne to address a number of strategic items related to its members, the Olympic Games, as well as its internal organisation. The meeting, chaired for the last time by incumbent President Francesco Ricci Bitti, took place ahead of the presidential handover to President Elect Ingmar De Vos on 1 January 2025.
The Council discussed the success of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and the related distribution of revenues from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to the International Federations (IFs). The IFs recently received the first of three instalments which presents an increase from Tokyo 2020.
The Council agreed that now is the time to review and update the IF revenue grouping criteria ahead of the LA28 Olympic Games and recommended that the IOC should once again lead this process. This is important with the inclusion of three new IFs into the revenue distribution scheme, namely the International Federation of Sport Climbing, the International Surfing Association and World Skate. The Council also urged the IOC to finalise as soon as possible the event programme and athlete quota for LA28, which is essential for the IFs’ planning of the new Olympic cycle.
All ASOIF member federations will meet in Lausanne on 24 October for ASOIF’s Paris 2024 debrief workshop, which will also be attended by the IOC as well as the organisers of Paris 2024 and LA28. The meeting will offer an important opportunity to discuss successes, challenges and lessons learnt, aimed at contributing to Games optimisation for future editions.
Regarding the internal organisation of ASOIF, the Council appointed James Carr as Executive Director as of 1 January 2025. He will take over from Andrew Ryan who will retire after having served the association in this role for almost 19 years.
ASOIF President Ricci Bitti said on this occasion: “I would like to wholeheartedly thank Andrew for his outstanding services and dedication to ASOIF during all these years. His contribution to the successful evolution of ASOIF has been remarkable and whilst we also had to tackle a number of challenges together, he never lost his British humour and wise perspective. I wish him all the best for the future and a very well-deserved, enjoyable retirement.”
James Carr joined ASOIF in 2016 as Head of Administration and Projects before being appointed Deputy Executive Director at the beginning of 2022. He has worked very closely with the ASOIF President and the outgoing Executive Director, particularly in the last two years as part of a legacy plan.
Concluding the meeting, President Ricci Bitti said: “During my last Council meeting, I would also like to express my gratitude to all ASOIF members. It has been a privilege to work with and for them throughout these last twelve years. Together, we have achieved a lot and I am absolutely convinced that Ingmar will tie in with this successful collaboration.”
“Finally, my thanks go to the IOC and its President Thomas Bach for our close and constructive cooperation, which was always focused on ensuring a healthy future of the Olympic Movement overall.”
This last ASOIF Council meeting of the year took place ahead of the IF Forum, organised by SportAccord from 21 to 23 October in Lausanne.