Accra, June 18, GNA - Dr Jaque Rogge President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has said, though his outfit recognises the huge governmental support to sports on the continent, it will not entertain undue governmental interference.
He said, the autonomy of the various sports associations must be respected by allowing free and democratic elections to appoint executive members.
Speaking at a Press Conference in Accra, Dr Rogge said, the composition of executive members of Olympic and other sport bodies must be selected through elections to be conducted at congress. According to Mr. Rogge, the IOC frowns upon any attempt by any government to appoint and impose candidates at executive positions. "We will respectfully remind any government that is involved in this act, to reverse it and failure to do so means some sanctions will be applied," the IOC president stated.
Touching on the issue of drugs, Dr Rogge said, the IOC is getting stronger in its fight against the use of drugs in sports, adding that, there was a massive improvement at the last Olympics Games held in Athens.
"The fact that 26 cases of drugs related issues were detected at the last Olympics Games is an indication of how efficient we have been in the fight against drugs in sports."
Dr. Rogge also expressed the hope that an African country is capable of winning the right to host the Olympic event following the impressive performance of South Africa in her bid for the last Olympic Games.
He said, South Africa placed second behind Greece for the last Olympics, hence with little effort, there is no doubt that an African country will be able to host the event in future. Dr. Rogge ruled out the possibility of applying the system used by the Federation of International Football Association (FIFA), which allowed only African countries to bid for the world cup, for the Olympic Games.
According to him, any country that wants to host the global event must bid for it.
