Russian Sports Minister names qualities of the best IOC head for Russia

The new president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) should be an independent figure. This was stated by Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev on September 22.

In his opinion, if this condition is met, then the Olympic movement will return to traditional standards.

"Only then we will be able to return the Olympic movement to traditional standards, when athletes compete outside politics, when sport unites nations rather than divides them," Degtyarev told TASS.

In addition, the sports minister said that Russian and Belarusian athletes will be subject to sanctions if the IOC continues to refuse to resist "political pressure from the collective West."

"The best candidate for us to head the IOC must first of all be an independent, independent figure, committed to Olympic principles," added the Minister.

Earlier, on September 16, it became known that the list of candidates for the post of head of the IOC included the head of the International Association of Athletics Federations (World Athletics) Sebastian Coe and Vice President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr. Also Zimbabwe's Sports Minister Kirsty Coventry, International Ski and Snowboard Federation President Johan Eliasch, International Cycling Union head David Lapartien, International Gymnastics Federation head Morinari Watanabe and Jordan Olympic Committee head Faisal bin Hussein.

On August 10, IOC President Thomas Bach said during the 142nd session of the organization that he was not going to be re-elected. The high standards of governance that have been set must be maintained, he said. Bach's term of office will end in 2025.

Thomas Bach is 70 years old, he was first elected as a committee member in 1991 and five years later he joined the IOC executive committee. On September 10, 2013, Bach was elected president of the organization, and in 2021 he was re-elected. The head of the IOC is the 1976 Olympic champion in team foil fencing.