IOC ACTIVITIES

COMMISSIONS

On 10 and 11 April, the Evaluation Commission for the 2018 Youth Olympic Games, chaired byClaudia Bokel, met by telephone conference. The three Candidate Cities – Medellin, Glasgow, and Buenos Aires – made presentations to the Evaluation Commission via video conference. 

The IOC consensus meeting on Prevention and Management of Chronic Disease was held from 10 to 12 April 2013 in Lausanne, led by Chairman of the Medical Commission Arne Ljungqvist. More than 20 leading experts in the fields of sport and exercise medicine, epidemiology and communication discussed the role of physical activity in preventing non-communicable diseases and worked on an action plan for implementing effective prevention programmes.  

INTERNATIONAL SPORTS FEDERATIONS

SUMMER IFS

The International Basketball Federation (FIBA) has announced that it has officially moved into its new headquarters at the House of Basketball, on the outskirts of Geneva (Switzerland). The state-of-the-art facility comes with a complete floor for FIBA's administrative staff, a conference centre and an exhibition area that includes the FIBA Hall of Fame, as well as a library with more than 6,000 basketball books. More info at www.fiba.com. 

International Equestrian Federation (FEI) President Haya Al Hussein, also an IOC member, welcomed close to 300 delegates to the second FEI Sports Forum, which opened on 8 April at the International Management Development Institute in Lausanne (Switzerland). Representatives from theequestrian community attended the Forum, which included the IOC, National Federations, riders and trainers clubs, event organisers, sponsors, welfare organisations and media. For more information please visit www.fei.org. 

The world’s best cadet and junior fencers will gather in Poreč (Croatia), to compete in the 2013 Fencing Cadet and Junior World Championships, from 6 to 15 April. More than 1,160 athletes representing 98 nations have registered for this annual highlight in the cadet and junior calendar of the International Fencing Federation (FIE). For more information: www.fie.ch and http://www.wchporec2013.com/ 

The International Rugby Board (IRB) has launched an interactive online awareness and educational resource dedicated to the fight against betting, match-fixing and corruption. The fully interactive KeepRugby Onside programme is available at www.irbintegrity.com.  

NATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEES

The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) has announced that women will soon play a much larger role in shaping the future of the Olympic Movement in Australia following a massive shift in the gender balance of its Executive Board. Three female Olympians will join the AOC Board after next month’s Annual General Meeting: Kitty Chiller (modern pentathlon), Danielle Woodward (canoe-kayak) and Nicole Livingstone (swimming). They will join Helen Brownlee (canoe-kayak) and Kim Crow (rowing) and hold five of the 12 elected positions on the AOC Board. Info at: www.corporate.olympics.com.au/. 

Bahrain Olympic Committee Chief Executive Officer Khalid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa recently met with British Deputy Ambassador to Bahrain Russ Dixon. Among the issues discussed at the meeting was the joint coordination in organising several sports activities with the British Embassy in Bahrain. 

The Executive Board of the Georgian National Olympic Committee met on 1 April at the NOC offices and reviewed a number of important topics. The Executive Board made a decision to hold the Session on 2 May. The Executive Board was also briefed on the results of young athletes participating in the European Youth Winter Festival in Brasov (Bulgaria), the renewal of the biannual sport magazine “Olympieli”, and preparations for the 2013 Olympic Run to be organised on 23 June. More info on theNOC website. 

The Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China, held the Cheque Presentation Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Olympic House in Hong Kong. NOC President and IOC member Timothy Tsun Ting Fok presented the cheque to London bronze medallist Sarah Lee Wai Sze (cycling) in the presence of Chairman of the British Olympic Association,Sebastian  Coe, elected officers of the Federation, various sponsors of the Hong Kong delegation and others. The Hong Kong delegation consisted of 42 athletes who participated in 13 events at the London Games. More info on www.hkolympic.org. 

For the first time in its history, the Executive Board of the Peruvian NOC, whose President is José Quiñones González, will include four women. They are: Maggie Martinelli Montoya, Cenaida Uribe Medina, Claudia Rivero Modenesi (an athlete) and Silvia Miro Quesada (a journalist). They were sworn in at the same time as the other Board members elected until 2016 (see photo). Info at www.coperu.org. 

The Swedish Olympic Committee has launched a new website for a project called OS i Skolan (Olympics at School). The site, addressing both teachers and students, is filled with knowledge about the world of Olympism and is a place where students can learn more about the Olympic Games in a fun and interactive way. Olympics at School is a project run by the NOC and the Swedish Olympic Academy since 2000 where elementary schools are able to work thematically with the Olympic Games in all subjects free of charge. Read more: www.sok.se and www.osiskolan.se.

ORGANISING COMMITTEES FOR THE OLYMPIC GAMES 

RIO 2016

The Fonte Nova Arena in Salvador, in the state of Bahia in Northeast Brazil, was recently inaugurated in the presence of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, Brazilian Minister of Sports Aldo Rebelo, the Governor of the State of Bahia Jaques Wagner and the Mayor of Salvador Antônio Carlos Magalhães Neto. The brand new stadium has been selected to stage the Olympic football tournament in 2016. Photos of the stadium are available in the press section of the Organising Committee for the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games (Rio 2016 TM) official website. 

OLYMPIC MUSEUM

The Olympic Museum will display some of its exclusive collections in several Brazilian citiesthis summer, beginning on 15 April in São Paulo. As The Olympic Museum in Lausanne is currently closed for renovation, the mobile exhibition will provide a rare opportunity for Olympic fans outside Switzerland to view artefacts that are usually only on show at the IOC’s official museum. The exhibition will feature such themes as the ancient Games and the work of the founder of the modern Olympic Games, Pierre de Coubertin. It will also contain sections devoted to the torch relays, ceremonies,sports on the Olympic programme, and the world of Olympic mascots and memorabilia, among others. For further information: www.olympic.org. 

RECOGNISED ORGANISATIONS

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) will hold its General Assembly and Conference in Athens (Greece) this November. The Conference will take place on Friday 22 November, while the General Assembly will be held over the weekend of 23 and 24 November.

On the agenda: the elections for the IPC Governing Board, up for election will be the position of IPC President, Vice-President and 10 members at large. More info at http://www.paralympic.org/.

The IPC also announced that it has named Russian News and Information Agency RIA Novosti as the official host national news agency for the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games. RIA Novosti will provide comprehensive coverage of the Sochi Paralympics, with special emphasis on the performance of the Russian athletes. 

The World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) is inviting applications for its 2014 Social Science Research Grant Programme. The Programme encourages research in social science to obtain information that will enable more efficient doping-prevention strategies. The deadline for submissions for the 2014 programme is 5 July 2013. More info can be found here.