Page 12Page 13
Page 12
12 OLYMPIC REVIEW On 2 March, the Executive Board (EB) of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) created a team of Refugee Olympic Athletes (ROA) for the Olympic Games Rio 2016. Team ROA will be treated at the Games just like the teams of the 206 National Olympic Committees (NOCs). As part of the IOC’s pledge to aid elite athletes affected by the worldwide refugee crisis and with the help of NOCs, 43 refugee athletes have been identified as potential contenders for Team ROA, and will receive funding from Olympic Solidarity to assist with their qualification efforts.“By welcoming the team of Refugee Olympic Athletes to the Olympic Games Rio 2016, we want to send a message of hope for all refugees in our world,” said IOC President Thomas Bach. “These refugee athletes will have a home together with all the other 11,000 athletes from 206 National Olympic Committees in the Olympic Village.” The ROA team will march behind the Olympic flag ahead of host team Brazil at the Opening Ceremony in Rio de Janeiro, and is expected to number between five and 10 athletes, who will be named by the EB at its next meeting in June.Above The IOC is assisting 43 refugee athletes in their efforts to qualify for Rio de JaneiroTEAM OF REFUGEE OLYMPIC ATHLETES CREATED BY THE IOC AND WILL RECEIVE SOLIDARITY FUNDING ON ROAD TO RIOIOC PUBLISHES CODE WITH AIM TO PREVENT MANIPULATIONIn its bid to strengthen the integrity and credibility of sport and for the successful protection of clean athletes, on 17 December the IOC published the Olympic Movement Code on the Prevention of the Manipulation of Competitions. A first of its kind, the Code aims to provide the Olympic Movement and its members with harmonised regulations to protect all competitions from the risk of manipulation. Any sports organisation bound by the Olympic Charter is expected to respect the provisions of the new Code, which was approved by the IOC Executive Board during its meetings earlier in December. Commenting, IOC President Thomas Bach said: “Today’s publication of the Code is an important step in fighting manipulation in sport. It is a joint effort by various key stakeholders of the Olympic Movement, particularly the International Federations, and another tangible outcome of Olympic Agenda 2020.”Below The Olympic Movement Code is an important step, according to President BachIOC MAKES MANAGEMENT OF DOPING RESULTS AND SANCTIONING INDEPENDENTOn 1 March, the Executive Board of the IOC agreed to delegate the decisions on alleged anti-doping rule violations during the Olympic Games to an independent body. A new Anti-Doping Division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) will handle cases from the 2016 Olympic Games onwards.The CAS Anti-Doping Division will replace the IOC Disciplinary Commission to hear and decide on doping cases at the Olympic Games, as well as the subsequent re-analysis of samples taken at the Games. The move comes as part of the Olympic Agenda 2020 reforms, and follows the Resolution of the Fourth Olympic Summit to make anti-doping testing independent of sports organisations.IOC President Thomas Bach said: “This is a major step forward to make doping testing independent, following the decision of the IOC Executive Board three months ago after the proposal of the Olympic Summit. It represents support for the IOC’s zero tolerance policy in the fight against doping and in the protection of the clean athletes.”