Thomas Bach’s successor needs cool head to guide Olympics through stormy seas: experts
Olympic officials will vote for IOC’s next president on Thursday, and myriad political hurdles need to be cleared by the German’s successor
Whoever succeeds Thomas Bach as president of the International Olympic Committee on Thursday would need to be “cool under fire”, with some members believing the very existence of the Olympic Movement to be at stake.
Seven candidates are vying to become the most powerful person in sport governance and replace Bach, who steps down after a stormy 12-year tenure when he had to contend with Covid-19, a Russian doping scandal as well as Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
“I believe this is the most significant Olympic election in nearly half a century,” Michael Payne, a former head of IOC Marketing, said. “Some IOC members are even predicting that the very future of the Olympic Movement is at stake.”
Payne, who in almost two decades at the IOC was credited with renewing its brand and finances through sponsorship deals, said the movement – which is composed of the IOC, International Sports Federations and National Olympic Committees – had “never been stronger” thanks in part to “perhaps the greatest Games ever” in Paris last year.
However, the 66-year-old Irishman said the “future outlook is fraught with risk”, adding that the IOC “has not faced such a troubled geopolitical outlook in many years”.
“How the IOC navigates an ever more fractured political world, maintaining universality and how the IOC engages with a rapidly changing marketing and broadcast market will define the movement’s future,” he said.