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Collin Matiza Sports Editor
ZIMBABWE’S Minister of Sport, Kirsty Coventry, might be forced to wait a little bit longer for her to become the next president of the International Olympic Committee.
Coventry (39) has been a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) since 2013 and has of late been talked about as a prospective future candidate for the IOC Presidency.
The seven-time Olympic swimming medallist is the most decorated Olympian in any sport from Africa.
She recently became one of the most influential sports personalities in the world when she was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in Fort Lauderdale in Florida, United States.
The Zimbabwean swimming icon has held several posts within the IOC and they include being: a Member of the Executive Board (2018-); Member (2014-2018), then Chair of the Athletes’ Commission (2018-); Chair of the Coordination Commission for the Youth Olympic Games Dakar 2022 (2018-); Member of the following Commissions: Coordination for the Games of the XXXII Olympiad Tokyo 2020 (2014-), Olympic Solidarity (2014-), Olympic Channel (2015-2018), Evaluation for the Games of XXXIII Olympiad in 2024 (2016-2017), Public Affairs and Social Development through Sport (2016-2018), Evaluation for the Youth Olympic Games 2022 (2018).
And this has propped up her profile within the corridors of power in the IOC with many observers saying she was among the leading candidates to succeed Bach when his current term as IOC President expires.
But a proposal for Bach to be allowed to remain as President of the IOC after his current term ends in 2025 was launched in Mumbai, India, yesterday.
According to insidethegames and reports from Mumbai, Algeria’s Mustapha Berraf, President of the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa, raised the idea of Bach being allowed to continue on the opening morning of the 141st IOC Session.
Under the rules of the Olympic Charter, Bach should step down after serving a 12-year term.
Berraf was supported by Dominican Republic Olympic Committee President Luis Mejía Oviedo and Djibouti’s Aïcha Garad Ali.
IOC vice-president John Coates of Australia, head of the Legal Commission, told delegates that a written proposal to amend the Charter must be submitted 30 days before a Session.
That would require consideration by the ruling Executive Board first among a series of measures in the process.
Bach, elected as IOC President for an eight-year term at the IOC Session in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 2013 when he replaced Jacques Rogge and given a further four-year mandate in 2021, did not rule out extending his period at the head of the organisation.
“First of all, I say thank you very much for your kind words of support, because I think these words of support are not only directed to me, they are directed to all of us,” Bach told the IOC Session in Mumbai yesterday.
“What made us overcome the challenges we had was exactly this unity, this support which you expressed with regard to many items overall at the time, and we can only be credible if we are appealing to all these divisive forces in the world, if we are appealing to respect the unifying of sport if we ourselves are unified.
“Otherwise, we have no credibility. If we are divided, how can we teach others about unity and our unifying power.”
If Bach is allowed to stand for another term, it would almost certainly the end of IOC members, including Zimbabwe’s Minister of Sport Coventry, who had been considering a run to succeed him.
This would also include Britain’s double Olympic gold medallist Sebastian Coe, the President of World Athletics, and Spain’s Juan Antonio Samaranch, whose father led the IOC between 1980 and 2001.
Japan’s International Gymnastics Federation President Morinari Watanabe, himself mentioned as a potential candidate to replace Bach, warned that the IOC “must be a role model” for International Federations.
He told Bach “I love you” and commends his leadership, but stressed the need for “good governance”.
“You also know I am very loyal to the Olympic Charter,” Bach said.
“Being a core author of this Olympic Charter drives me to be more loyal to this Olympic Charter.
“You have heard the explanation of the chair of our Legal Commission in this direction.
“Thank you very much again, I am very touched by your support and friendship.”
Algeria’s Berraf raised the idea of Bach being allowed to continue on the opening morning of the 141st IOC Session in Mumbai yesterday.
Under the rules of the Olympic Charter, Bach should have to step down after serving a 12-year term.
In 1995, at the IOC Session in Budapest, there was a Charter amendment raising the mandatory retirement age from 75 to 80 after then FIFA President João Havelange persuaded members to vote for it.
That allowed Samaranch senior to run for a fourth term in 1997 before he finally stepped down in 2001 to be replaced by Rogge.
At the time, the resolution raised eyebrows outside the IOC as was under Samaranch’s leadership that the age limit was put in place.
Among the 10 IOC members who voted against the Charter amendment on that occasion was Richard Pound, the Canadian who had been widely tipped to succeed Samaranch.
The 12-year term limit for IOC President was introduced by Rogge after he succeeded Samaranch.
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