Journal of Civil & Legal Sciences
Open Access

The International Olympic Committee (IOC); International Federations of Sports (IFs); National Olympic Committees (NOCs); Olympic games

Introduction

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization with its headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland. The modern Olympic Games were established on June 23, 1894, when the International Athletics Congress of Paris voted unanimously in favour of their creation. The idea was inspired by the Ancient Greek Olympic Games, which were held in Olympia, Greece, from the eighth century BCE to the fourth century CE. Baron Pierre De Coubertin was the founder of the International Olympic Committee. The IOC's mission is to create a better world through sport; it is currently the steward of the Olympic Games and the leader of the Olympic movement. The International Olympic Committee (IOC), International Sports Federations (IFs), and National Olympic Committees are the three principal components of the Olympic Movement [1].

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is the supreme authority charged with carrying out all actions that embody the essence and values of the Olympiad. To govern and organize the Olympic Games, the IOC adopted the Olympic Charter. It includes the principles, regulations, and bylaws. The IOC facilitates collaboration between all Olympic stakeholders, including athletes, National Olympic Committees, International Federations, Organizing Committees for the Olympic Games (OCOGs), Global Olympic partners, and Olympic Broadcast partners. The International Olympic Committee is the only international organization with an observer seat in the United Nations General Assembly. The majority of the IOC's revenue comes from broadcast and marketing rights. It devotes the remaining ninetenths of its revenue to the Olympic Games, athlete development, and Olympic Movement [2].

Discussion

The IOC has 102 members, 43 honorary members, and one honorary member from the United States: Henry Kissinger. It is led by a President, whose term is fixed at eight years and renewable once for an additional four years. The IOC's governing bodies consist of the Session, the IOC Executive Board, and the President. The Session is the supreme organ of the IOC and its decisions are final. It is a general meeting of the members of the IOC. The Session is held once a year in ordinary, but an Extraordinary Session may be convened by the President or at least one third of the members' written request. The IOC Executive Board consists of one President, four Vice-Presidents, and ten other members. The main role of the IOC Executive Board is to oversee the administration of the IOC and the management of its affairs. The President represents the IOC and presides over all its activities. This study will analyse the IOC's role in Olympic sports [3].

The legal status of IOC

The IOC is an international organization that operates in most countries with the common objective of its members serving the betterment of sports according to the values of the Olympic Movement. It is a non-governmental organization with international legal personality that has international membership and activities. International legal personality having the capacity to enjoy rights and incur obligations in its relations with members and having the power to enter into relationships through treaties or agreements. The Helsinki Accords of August 1, 1975, concluded that the rules and regulations of the Olympic Charter are customary international law on the basis of established international rules, regulations, and practices. The Federal Council of Switzerland, the highest executive body, decided on September 17, 1981, and passed a decree to expressly recognize the IOC as an international institution for its universal activities and special character. The IOC amended the Olympic Charter in 1991 to declare it an international organization with the status of a legal person. The IOC can seek relief in national courts as a plaintiff or defendant for adjudication of Olympic disputes [4].

Recognition of IFS

The International Sports Federations (IFs) are the international non-governmental organization administrating sports at world level. The IFs are recognized by IOC to ensure the activities align with the Olympic movement. The rules and regulation of the IFs must be in conformity with the Olympic Charter. The IFS must be adopting the world Anti-Doping Code and Olympic Movement Code on the Prevention of Manipulation of Competitions. The IFs have independent and autonomous status in the administration. The IFs have the responsibility and duty to manage, monitor, and supervise the sports program, disciplines, and development at every level. The IFs have the right to formulate proposals to the IOC, collaborate, and participate in the Congress and Commissions. There are a number of IFs who have recognition of IOC [5].

IOC recognition criteria required to apply

The following criteria must be observed when IFs make a request to the IOC for recognition as an applicant [6];

• Applicant IFs must be complying the Rule 25 of the Olympic Charter

• IFs should be a signatory of the WADA Code and integrate it in their statutes that it should be attested by WADA

• IFs recognize the jurisdiction of Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) and the Code of Sports-related Arbitration

• IFs must be a sole governing body of those sports worldwide

• IFs existed for at least five years

• Member of Sport Accord

• In case of summer sport IFs, there should be 50 affiliated countries from minimum of 3 continents

• In case of winter sport IFs, there should be 25 affiliated countries from minimum of 3 continents

• There are some general principles that would be follow by IFs

• Monitor the player's health and address education, nondiscrimination, fair play, and solidarity

• IFs must organize the activities for youth (men and women) at all level

• The judging and scoring system of the IFs must be fair and transparent

• IFs must increase the participation of women in sport

Evaluation Criteria for IFs

There are detailed criteria for the IFs to provide for the IOC recognition [7].

1. General

1.1. Value added

1.1.1. Please explain the value added by the sport to the Olympic

Games and Olympic Movement; value added by the Olympic movement to the sport

2. Governance

2.1. Basic Principle of Good governance

2.1.1. Code of Ethics

2.1.2. Alignment of IF’s Code of Ethics with the principles and rules of the IOC Code of Ethics

2.1.3. Internal dispute resolution system

2.1.4. The number of cases involving the federation, the types of cases submitted to the CAS, and the number of cases that cannot be settled through local arbitration or mediation.

2.2. Strategic planning process

2.2.1. Existence of a muti-year strategic planning process

2.2.2. Summary of key strategic priorities

2.3. Gender equity in elected bodies

2.3.1. Comparison between number of women and number of men in the executive board

2.4. Illegal and irregular betting

2.4.1. Rules and procedure to fight against competition fixing

3. History & Tradition

3.1. Sport

3.1.1. Date of establishment of the International Federation

3.2. World Championships

3.2.1. Year and place were first held for men and women

3.2.2. Number of championships until held

3.2.3. Frequency

3.3. Other multi-sport Games

3.3.1. Number of times each recognized sport has been included in the multi-sport games

4. Universality

4.1. Affiliated national federation

4.1.1. Number of national federations affiliated to the IFs which correspond to NOCs

4.2. Active members of the national federations

4.2.1. Number of national federations which participated in the last two continental championships for men and women

4.2.2. Number of national federations which participated in the last two junior world championships for men and women

4.2.3. Number of national federations which participated in the last two world championship for men and women

4.3. Global spread of excellence

4.3.1. Number of medals awarded at the last two world or equivalent championship for men and women

4.3.2. Number of countries per continent that won medals at the last two world or equivalent championship for men and women

5. Popularity

5.1. Youth appeal

5.1.1. Steps taken by IF to present sport in the most interesting and attractive manner, in particular to young people

5.2. Spectators

5.2.1. Number of tickets available for paying spectators at the last two world/equivalent championship for men and women

5.2.2. Number of tickets sold to paying spectators at the last two world/equivalent championship for men and women

5.3. Media

5.3.1. Number of media accreditations granted at the last two world championship

5.4. Broadcasting

5.4.1. Indicate the number of countries each continent which broadcasted world championship

5.5. Broadcasting rights

5.5.1. Indicate the number of countries each continent which paid right to broadcast the last two world championship

5.6. Digital media

5.6.1. Official website of IF with number of visitors during the year

5.6.2. Facebook and number of fans

5.6.3. Twitter and number followers

5.7. Sponsors

5.7.1. List the major sponsors and the kinds of benefits received

6. Athletes

6.1. Representation

6.1.1. Possibilities for players to vote within the decision-making bodies of IF

6.2. Commission

6.3. Existence of an athlete’s 'commission within the IF

6.4. Programs

6.4.1. Is there a system in place or a collection of resources available to aid athletes in continuing their education, enhancing their personal development, and preparing for life beyond athletics?

6.5. Entourage

6.5.1. Existence of entourage-related initiatives within the IF

6.5.2. Existence of programs or mechanisms like a code of conduct or a licensing system for athletes to educate and keep tabs on their support staff (managers, trainers, doctors, etc.)

6.5.3. Existence of rules to sanction members of the entourage who are found to be involved in matters such as doping, sexual harassment, etc.

6.6. Health

6.6.1. Medical commission representative on executive board

6.6.2. Longitudinal scientific strategies to monitor and ensure the health, safety and security of athletes

6.6.3. Anti-doping regulation, program and educational activities

6.6.4. Anti-doping violations

7. Development of the Sport

7.1. Scope of the development programs

7.1.1. Financial distribution system of IF to support national federations

7.1.2. Summary of three main development programs

7.1.3. Existence of sport development programs or events

7.2. Technical evolution of the sport

7.2.1. The ability to regulate the development of sports infrastructure, including stadiums, gyms, and uniforms, is available.

7.3. Gender equity

7.3.1. Existence of a women in sport commission within the IF

7.4. Sport for all

7.4.1. The International Federation (IF) has a sport for all commission and has implemented various sports for all programs.

7.5. Transparency & fairness on the ground

7.5.1. Methods used by the IF to guarantee a neutral and fair competition conclusion, including how judges are chosen, how they are evaluated, whether or not they receive formal training, and how their decisions affect the final standings.

7.5.2. Ethical rules for technical officials

7.5.3. Juries of appeals and athletes’ right to appeal

7.6. Environment

7.6.1. Rules and policies about the environment

7.6.2. Implementing assessment standards, such as those found in the Sustainable Sport and Event Toolkit

8. Finance

8.1. Accounting

8.1.1. Implement the generally accepted accounting principles, have your books audited, and post your financials to the IF website.

8.2. Income and Expenditure

8.2.1. Total income

8.2.2. Total expenditure

Decision-making process

The decision-making process is done in the following steps as under;

Step 1: Request for recognition to the IOC sports department

The candidate IF will officially inform the IOC Sport Department by sending a complete file to the IOC Sport Department before October 1 of the applicable year about its willingness to apply for recognition. The sport department is always available to update the application process.

Step 2: Analysis by sport accord

In the second step, all the recognition applications will be analysed by the Sport Accord, and the IOC may obtain an opinion from other organizations such as ASOIF, AIOWF, ARISF, or WADA. This analysis will be discussed and considered by the IOC Executive Board for provisional recognition for two years and at an IOC session for full recognition.

Step 3: Role of the IOC executive board

The IOC Executive Board decides on the recognition request once a year. This timeframe is two years, but the IOC Executive Board has the right to change it according to exceptional circumstances. The applicant IFs have the same rights and obligations as recognized IFs during the provisional period. The IOC sent an official notification to all applicant IFs regarding their recognition or non-recognition.

Step 4: Role of the IOC Session

At this stage, the IOC Session decides whether the IFs' provisional recognition should be full or not on the recommendation of the IOC Executive Board before the end of the provisional recognition period. The decision of the IOC Session is sent to the IFs by official notification.

Step 5: Annual report

All the IFs, whether they have provisional or full recognition, will provide an annual activity report to the IOC Sport Department, which will explain the details of the funds allocated by the IOC [8].

National Olympic Committees

National Olympic Committees (NOCs) are constituent parts of the Olympic Movement in their respective countries under the authority of the International Olympic Committee, which has the authority to recognize them. The name of every NOC must reflect the territory and tradition of the country where it was established and has its headquarters. The NOCs can use their names after approval by the Executive Board of the IOC. "Country" means an independent state recognized by the international community [Article 30 of the Olympic Charter]. The main role of the NOCs is to develop, promote, and protect the fundamental principles and values of Olympicism in accordance with the Olympic Charter. The NOCs have the authority to represent their country in the Olympic Games as well as other regional, continental, or other sports events held under the IOC. The NOCs are autonomous bodies free from any kind of political, legal, religious, or economic pressure from the state or other authorities, and they cannot even designate any member of the NOC. All the athletes will participate in the Olympic Games through the NOCs. The NOCs are responsible for implementing all the rules and regulations of the IOC in their respective jurisdictions [9].

The Olympic Games

The Olympic Games are a modernized version of the ancient Olympic Games, which were first held in 776 BC in the Peloponnese (ancient Greece) in honor of Zeus by the city-state of Elis. The initial sports festival, which is closer to the religious festival, had limited events, but in later decades, a number of events were added, and now almost all the sports have been included. Initially, all competitions were held on the same day, but they were later spread over four days, with a prize distribution ceremony on the fifth day. There were no women’s sports events in the ancient Olympic Games. However, there was a Herean festival in which women participated. With this historical prospect, under the leadership of Pierre, the modern Olympic Games were revived in Paris in 1894. The control and development of the Olympic Games were allocated to the IOC, which will be responsible for organizing, monitoring, and promoting the Games around the globe. The IOC has sole authority to choose the host city for Olympic Games events [10].

Measure and sanctions

The Session, the IOC Executive Board, or the Disciplinary Commission may take action for the breach of the Olympic Charter, regulations, and decisions. Where violation occurred by the IOC members, the Honorary President, honorary members against the Olympic Movement, the IOC Executive Board reprimand, suspend for a specific time or for some or part of right. In case of Ifs contravene with Olympic Games, the Session may withdraw him from a sports and full recognition, the IOC Executive Board withdraw him from a discipline or an event and provisional recognition. The IOC Executive Board also suspends the Ifs of a sport, discipline, or event. Where any infringement is done by the NOCs regarding the Olympic Movement, the Session may withdraw full recognition and organize a Session or an Olympic Congress. The IOC may suspend the event or withdraw the provisional recognition. If the disobedience is taking place by an individual athletes or teams in lieu of all the rules and regulation of the Olympic Games, ineligibility (temporary or permanent), disqualification, withdrawal or exclusion from the Olympic Games by the IOC Executive Board. The IOC Executive Board may also exclude or ineligible the officials, managers, delegations, referees or jury member in case of any law breaking. The IOC authorities may also impose financial sanction to the individuals, teams, or entities according to the factor and gravity of the violation. A disciplinary commission may use the power delegated to it by the IOC Executive Board. In all the processes, the IOC authorities may issue a warning before applying the sanctions and also give all the parties an equal right to participate in the investigation or trial [11].

Dispute resolutions

The rulings made by the IOC are irrevocable and cannot be questioned in any way. The IOC Executive Board is the sole body with the jurisdiction to settle the dispute and interpret the applicable regulations and rules of the Olympics and the IOC. In the circumstance that a conflict arises concerning an aspect of the Olympic Games for example, a competition, a ranking, or the results it is considered necessary that the matter be brought before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) so that it may be arbitrated in accordance with the Code of Sports-Related Arbitration [12].

Information Technology (IT) integration in the Olympic movements

Atos Origin, based in Bezons, France, is a leading multinational IT company and a global leader in digital transformation. It is Europe's leading company in cyber security, cloud computing, and highperformance computing. Atos is a technology partner of the IOC since 1989 and a key associate technology service provider for the Olympic Movement worldwide. Atos has the role of developing, maintaining, and securing the games' information system. This digital system helps to manage staff information, organize workforce, and provide efficient medical facilities, qualification and sports entries of the athletes. Further provided that IT solution decrease the operational cost and further provided that IT solution decrease the operational cost and support the integration of digitalization in the Olympic Games. A 2020+5 is an IOC strategic plan to digitalize the Olympic Movement. The digitalization of the Olympic Movement increases and expands its operation in a transformed world where new opportunities and possibilities enlarge new fans and new ways to create more revenue [13].

Online gaming and Regulation

The online gaming means videos games which pay online through internet or computer network. New trends and emerging technologies such as metaverse, Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, and 5G make online games a robust and profitable business. The importance of gaming industries shows by the PwC reports which states that growth of industry worth $321 billion by 2026. There is another reason behind the expansion of the online gaming is that new generation has more concern with online activities. A new study ravel that five years ago, half of the global population was online, but by 2022, this had jumped to 89%. The high-rise growth of the gaming industry also has harassment and extremist content, which is a serious breach of trust and safety that requires an effective strategy for user-friendly regulations.

Conclusion

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has a significant role in the sports to monitoring the stakeholder of the Olympic Movement and encourages the values of the Olympism. The IOC is a sole authority to make rule and regulation to run smoothly the Olympic Games and to recognize the International Sports Federation (IFs) and National Olympic Committees (NOCs). In light of this role, it is more important for the IOC to make some rules and regulations for online gaming. The IOC should bring Online gaming in the mainstream sports under the flagship of Olympism. The trends of Online gaming, its boost, and expansion demand to legalize the limits and outright. The gaming laws will provide a clear public policy to ensure the conduct of competitions is free from criminal and illegal activities. There are some countries that have enacted legislation to regulate online gaming. It is a time; the IOC take inevitable measure to provide the protection and to control and monitor the Online Gaming activities according to the values of the Olympism. The online gamers are also required to formalize their national and regional federations and apply for recognition by the IOC for appreciation of their games worldwide.

Acknowledgement

None

Conflict of Interest

None

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