Oswald, who is also President of the International Rowing Federation (FISA) and chair of the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) Coordination Commission for London 2012, explains in the letter that he has made the decision to resign in order to allow ASOIF to retain a position on the IOC Executive Board when the 64-year-old finishes his eight-year term on the Board this summer at the Olympics.

The IOC will not allow Oswald to remain on the Executive Board to the point where his ASOIF Presidency expires in 2013 but it is understood that because he is now prematurely resigning from the role, he will be allowed to retain his Executive Board seat until the end of December 2012.

Oswald, who is currently in Britain touring the football stadiums that will be used for the Olympics and attended Manchester United's 2-0 win over Stoke at Old Trafford last night where he England 1966 World Cup winner Sir Bobby Charlton (pictured below second left), has been ASOIF President since 2000.


His successor will be elected at the ASOIF General Assembly on May 22 which will take place in Quebec City during SportAccord.

ASOIF director Andrew Ryan explained that should an IOC member be elected as the new ASOIF President, they would also promoted to his seat on the Executive Board.

"Providing that an IOC member replaces Denis as ASOIF President, they also take his seat on the IOC Executive Board effective of January 2013," Ryan told insidethegames.

"But if his successor is not an IOC member, ASOIF will nominate a President from one of our federations to represent the ASOIF concerns on the Executive Board.

"All the nominations for the position of ASOIF President are due no later than 15 days before the ASOIF General Assembly, which will be May 7.

"Also, in order to prevent this situation occurring again, we will slightly change our regulations for the future to ensure we elect a new President in the year of the Olympic Games to ensure the ASOIF seat on the Executive Board."

Given that a prestigious Executive Board seat is on offer, there is likely to be a number of candidates in the IOC that will put themselves forward for the high-ranking position of ASOIF President.


One of the leading candidates for the position is likely to be IOC member and International Cycling Union (UCI) President Pat McQuaid (pictured) of Ireland, who is currently the ASOIF vice-president.

International Triathlon Union (ITU) President Marisol Casado of Spain and Ukrainian International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) vice-president Sergey Bubka are also tipped to be strong contenders if they put themselves for the position as both are currently on the eight-member ASOIF Council and also members of the IOC.

For the elections of ASOIF President, an absolute majority vote in the secret ballot is required.

If no candidate reaches an absolute majority, the candidate obtaining the smallest number of votes in each ballot shall be eliminated until one candidate obtains an absolute majority.

The ASOIF President is eligible for immediate re-election only twice, meaning that the victorious candidate in Quebec City could potentially sit on the IOC Executive Board for an interrupted period of eight years if they serve two consecutive terms in office.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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