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OLYMPIC REVIEW 13During a visit to North Africa in March, IOC President Thomas Bach expressed the solidarity of the Olympic Movement with the high state authorities of Tunisia, as the country was again struck by terrorist attacks. He assured the President of the Republic, Mr Beji Caid Essebsi, the Prime Minister, Habib Essid, and the President of the Parliament, Mohamed Ennaceur, that the Olympic family stood by the side of the Tunisian people in these difficult times. President Bach said: “The terrorist attacks are not only attacks against Tunisia and its people, but they are also attacks against human values. We must use the unifying power of sport to convey messages of tolerance and peace.”The next stop on President Bach’s trip was Algeria, which plans to send a team of 70 athletes to Rio 2016. Of these, 46 have already qualified, evidence of the exemplary work done by the Algerian NOC under the leadership of its energetic President, Mustapha Berraf.President Bach also praised the NOC, saying: “The Algerian NOC has struck exactly the right balance, respecting the sovereignty of the state, which for its part respects the autonomy of sport.”The IOC President ended his visit to North Africa in Rabat, where he attended the Moroccan NOC (CNOM) Executive Board meeting, which was chaired by CNOM President Housni Benslimane. Discussions centred on the preparation of Moroccan athletes for Rio 2016 and the need to protect clean athletes. Later, President Bach met with Abdelilah Benkirane, Morocco’s Head of Government. He was informed of a new law aimed at strengthening the fight against doping on a national level.President Bach said: “It is a very important step in protecting clean Moroccan athletes, and is a strong signal on an international level, with only a few months to go before the Olympic Games Rio 2016.”Below A young fencer enjoys a fencing bout with President Bach in Souidania (Algeria)IOC SHARES ANTI-CORRUPTION INSIGHTS WITH POLICY-MAKERSOn 17-18 February in Brussels (Belgium), the IOC shared its key initiatives aimed at preventing competition manipulation and related corruption with European policy-makers, law-enforcement authorities and betting operators.At a workshop entitled “Developing European initiatives to fight match-fixing”, organised by the European Commission (EC), IOC Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer Pâquerette Girard Zappelli presented the angle of the Olympic and Sports Movement on the topic of “Identifying the risk factors for match-fixing”. The EC also presented several initiatives dedicated to fighting match-fixing that have been granted EU funding, including one 18-month project of which the IOC is a partner, called “Keep Crime Out of Sport – Together against sports competition manipulation”.During the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, the IOC will work with Brazilian law-enforcement authorities in a Joint Integrity Intelligence Unit to monitor all sports for instances of possible manipulation of competitions or related corruption. The IOC’s Integrity Betting Intelligence System (IBIS), which successfully operated for the first time at the Olympic Winter Games Sochi 2014, will serve as the system for information and intelligence exchange between law-enforcement, sports organisations and betting operators or regulators.IOC PRESIDENT VISITS THREE NORTH AFRICAN COUNTRIES NEWS IN BRIEFIOC President marks anniversary of Olympic Agenda 2020One year to the day after the unanimous approval of Olympic Agenda 2020 by the 127th IOC Session in Monaco on 8 December 2014, the IOC announced that it has made significant progress with the implementation of all 40 recommendations. “The reforms passed in Olympic Agenda 2020 exactly one year ago ensure internationally recognised standards of governance,” IOC President Thomas Bach wrote in an opinion piece, in which he urged sports organisations to do more to renew trust in sport.First stone laid at new IOC headquartersIn December, the first stone of the future headquarters of the IOC was symbolically laid in the form of a time capsule intended to be opened on the 200th anniversary of the IOC’s establishment in Lausanne in 2115. Composed of five cylinders in the Olympic colours, the capsule contains key items from the history of the Olympic Movement. Before the capsule “disappeared”, IOC President Thomas Bach presented its contents and emphasised the various symbols reflected by the new IOC headquarters and the IOC’s attachment to the city of Lausanne.