The president of SportAccord, the union of 92 Olympic and non-Olympic international sports federation and organizers of international sporting events, has ruffled some feathers. During his speech last month at the Sport Accord General Assembly, Marius Vizer openly criticized the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in his address, stating that the IOC system is “expired, outdated, wrong, unfair and not at all transparent.”
Vizer says IFs should have more power, and a fairer distribution of money and accused the IOC of interfering with their progress.
Following Vizer’s public affront, he requested a meeting with IOC president Thomas Bach, who declined, stating that he had to confer with the IOC executive and would get back to Vizer after the next meeting, June 7-8 in Lausanne, Switzerland.
At least a dozen international federations have cut ties with SportAccord, in allegiance with the IOC, including equestrian sport’s governing body, the FEI. In statement, FEI president Ingmar De Vos said, “SportAccord’s president Marius Vizer has been informed of the FEI Executive Board’s decision.
“The FEI, alongside many other International Sports Federations and the Association of Summer Olympic International Sports Federations will seek full clarity regarding SportAccord’s role and mission, including a review of SportAccord’s governance and management.”
The FEI’s membership with SportAccord will be discussed by the FEI Bureau at its in-person meeting on June 9th.
Click here to read the full text from Marius Vizer’s speech at the SportAccord General Assembly on April 20th.
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