Hickey,who is also the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) special delegate on autonomy, issued the warning during a keynote address to the 49 European National Olympic Committees (NOC) on the opening day of the 35th EOC Seminar, which was opened by Cyprus' President Nicos Anastasiades.

While NOCs in Europe have so far largely escaped sanctions from the IOC several others around the world, most notably India, have been suspended for Government interference and failing to follow the Olympic Charter. 

"Autonomy is a necessity for the Olympic and Sports Movement but we are seeing an increasing number of cases where governments are limiting the autonomy of NOCs and International Federations," said Hickey 

"It is therefore very important that we communicate with our members and try to provide them with the tools to be able to combat this.

"The EOC Seminar provides us with an excellent platform to do just that.

"Good governance is a very important way for sports organisations to achieve autonomy.

"However, to successfully implement good governance is not without its challenges; we encourage all our NOCs to work at it because the benefits are certainly worth the effort."

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