(Bombay) The president of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach maintained uncertainty on Monday about the possibility that he would extend his mandate beyond 2025, while several members of the IOC urged him the day before to do so.
“You must understand that you do not give such an answer straight away and to the media,” the German leader responded to the press, when asked about his ambiguous position while term limits have become a principle. good sports governance.
“We need to discuss it with the people concerned and then the media will be informed,” continued the former Olympic team foil champion at the 1976 Montreal Olympics.
On Sunday, while the subject did not appear on the menu of the 141st session of the body meeting in Bombay, India, four members of the IOC requested a modification of the Olympic Charter to allow a third mandate for the 69-year-old Bavarian, of whom they praised “leadership.”
This text, which serves as the Constitution of the Lausanne organization, nevertheless seemed to settle its fate: elected in 2013 and reappointed in 2021, it cannot in principle exceed twelve years in office, i.e. two mandates of 8 then 4 years, and therefore must leave in 2025.
To amend the Olympic Charter, the draft would have to be submitted more than 30 days before an IOC session, while submitting it to its Executive Commission. With the next session scheduled just before the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, the subject promises to liven up the coming months.
But Thomas Bach limited himself to explaining the “two main motivations” of the supporters of its extension, ensuring that he had heard “rumors” about their intentions while having been surprised by these speeches in the middle of the session.
“They are worried about an early electoral campaign which would disrupt the preparation of the Paris Games”, he summarized, and “wanted to express their gratitude for the work accomplished by the IOC in recent years”.
“It’s human, I was really touched […] For this reason, it is a question of respect and personal relationship not to brush aside such a sign of support,” he said, without clarifying his intentions.