ABSTRACT
The aim of this book is to examine how to improve the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) accountability for the worst outcomes of the Olympic Games. To do so, we need to understand the structure of the IOC, and of the Olympic Games. Analysing these structures can reveal possible shortcomings that inhibit accountability. In addition, we can begin to understand the identity and interests of the IOC. As a result, the work in this chapter sets out the base for the remainder of this book. The structure of the IOC has been discussed in detail before, particularly in Jean-Loup Chappelet and Brenda Kübler-Mabbott’s book, The International Olympic Committee and the Olympic System: The Governance of World Sport. Since the book’s publication in 2008, much has happened. Olympic Games in Beijing, Vancouver, London, and Sochi have come and gone. Rio de Janeiro, Pyeongchang, Tokyo, and Beijing (again) were selected as future hosts of the Games. The inaugural Youth Olympic Games took place in Singapore in 2010, followed by editions in Innsbruck, Nanjing, and Lillehammer. The IOC elected a new president, as Jacques Rogge became the first IOC president to retire due to term limits, making way for current IOC President Thomas Bach. Following the Beijing Games, pressure on the IOC has increased to address issues such as human rights. And most recently, the IOC has set out a wide-ranging reform process, Agenda 2020. This chapter by no means aims to replace Chappelet and Kübler-Mabbott’s essential work. Instead, it should be considered as an update, and an examination of the IOC with a particular focus on legitimacy and accountability. In examining the structure of the IOC, I seek to answer two research questions. First, who is actually responsible for what in organising the Olympic Games? Second, does the structure of the IOC (and the Olympic Movement more broadly), satisfy the elements of structural legitimacy identified in the last chapter (source of authority, independence, and subject-matter expertise)? This chapter contains four sections. Section 1 of the chapter will outline the Olympic Movement, the constellation of global sports bodies, of which
the IOC is a part. Section 2 will examine the structure of the IOC itself. In addition, it will examine the relationship of the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) to the IOC, the legal status of the IOC, and the core documents that the IOC uses in regards to the Olympic Games. Section 3 will examine the Olympic Games themselves, and briefly discuss the roles of the various actors in putting on the Games. Section 4 will draw some conclusions.
