News
gaisF’s seniOr viCe presidEnt raffaeLe cHiulli jOins World sporTs leadeRs at the olYmpic sumMit
Raffaele Chiulli of GAISF was among the key Olympic Movement figures invited by IOC President Thomas Bach to take part in the 7th Olympic Summit in Lausanne.
The Summit agenda covered a range of subjects and issues central to the future of sport, and GAISF’s work in areas including good governance, esports and clean sport was recognised during the discussions.
“I was delighted to represent GAISF at the Olympic Summit and ensure that our federations continue to play its part in shaping the future of sports as active and fully committed members of the Olympic Family,” Dr Chiulli said.
“We retain our close alignment with the International Olympic Committee on all key matters and are determined to play our role in ensuring the values of the Olympic Movement remain at the core of everything GAISF does and stands for. “
Among the key outcomes of the Olympic Summit were:
Protection of the clean athletes
The Summit welcomed the good progress made in the establishment of the International Testing Agency (ITA), where former GAISF’s Doping Free Sports Unit plays a key role, which now serves 38 IFs as well as the IOC itself.
The Summit also highlighted that delegating hearings and sanctioning to the independent Court of Arbitration for Sport Anti-Doping Division (CAS ADD), from 1 January 2019, complies with the principle of the separation of powers and offers more efficient proceedings through a Sole Arbitrator. Procedures with a Sole Arbitrator are free of charge for up to four procedures per IF per annum, while all procedures with three arbitrators are free of charge.
The Summit welcomed the expressions of interest by a large number of federations and encouraged them to accelerate the process of signing up with the ITA and the CAS ADD.
Good governance
The Summit welcomed the announcement by the GAISF that it had initiated a good governance project for non-Olympic sports federations.
It was agreed that the sports movement, like any major organisation, is under scrutiny and that efforts to improve good governance throughout the Olympic Movement must remain an ongoing process and a priority. The participants expressed their full commitment to implement high-standard good governance measures while recognising that no organisation is immune from wrongdoings.
The Olympic Movement and esports/egames
It was agreed that the IOC and GAISF would invite stakeholders of the esports/egames industry to a liaison group to explore jointly collaborative projects in order to continue to engage with the esports community.
The Summit encouraged the IFs to explore the potential benefits and applications of the electronic and virtual versions of their own sports, while:
- ensuring they gain or retain appropriate control over the electronic/virtual versions of their sports; and
- restricting their engagement to activation in the e-versions and virtual forms of their traditional sports.
However, the Summit agreed that any discussion about the inclusion of esports/egames as a medal event on the Olympic programme is premature and major sports events organisers within the Olympic Movement have to respect this principle for their own competitions.