IOC Session approves Olympic Charter reforms to strengthen neutrality and overhaul Games program

LAUSANNE: The 146th International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session on Wednesday approved several changes to the Olympic Charter to improve governance, Olympic program selection and the IOC's position of neutrality. Rule 45 of the Olympic Charter, Program of the Olympic Games, and its bye-law, now reads: "The program consists of three components...". The three components are the sports program, the discipline program and the events program.

The Session approved a new methodology to determine the Olympic program, which will be evaluated at discipline level rather than sport level to better reflect the direct impact on venue requirements, operational delivery and overall Games costs.

The role of the IOC now reads: "The IOC's role is: to apply neutrality at all times, free from governmental, cultural, societal or economic pressure."

"I'm really grateful for the openness and the honesty that have led us to where we have seen our strategic frameworks ending up today," said IOC President Kirsty Coventry. "We reviewed the Olympic Charter and all the other documents to strengthen that position of neutrality that we need in a very divided world."

The Session also removed the list of International Federations from the Olympic Charter, noting that the list could create a misleading impression of permanence for sports on the Olympic program. Agencies

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