Bach vows to renew trust in sport in wake of "upsetting" sporting scandals

IOC President Thomas Bach has declared the recent doping scandal in athletics as particularly upsetting ©IOC

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach has vowed to renew the trust in sport in the wake of a series of corruption and doping scandals, describing recent developments in some sports as “particularly upsetting”.

Sport has been rocked by the recent crisis in athletics, culminating in the suspension of the All-Russia Athletics Federation by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) following the release of an explosive World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Independent Commission report which alleged state-supported doping in the country.

It followed the scandal which has engulfed world football’s governing body FIFA this year, which has seen the indictments of 41 officials and entities by the United States Department of Justice on corruption charges.

Bach, writing in an opinion piece ahead of the IOC Executive Board meeting which opened here today, claimed he was an advocate for life bans for those found guilty of doping when he was younger but admitted “such a sanction would not be upheld by a judicial court”.

“As an Olympic medallist, recent developments in some sports are particularly upsetting," Bach, an Olympic fencing champion at Montreal 1976, said.

“What saddens me most as a former athlete is that they erode the trust in the clean athlete.

“Clean athletes who push themselves day in day out pursuing their dreams see the finger of suspicion pointing at them.

“This is the very worst ‘side-effect’ of doping.

“We must do everything we can to protect these millions of clean athletes around the world.”

Today marks exactly one year since Agenda 2020 was unanimously approved at an extraordinary IOC Session in Monte Carlo — Today marks the first anniversary since Agenda 2020 was unanimously approved at an Extraordinary IOC Session in Monte Carlo but several scandals involving FIFA and IAAF since then have eroded the public's trust ©Getty Images

Bach’s comments marked the first anniversary of the IOC unanimously passing Agenda 2020, the strategic roadmap for the future of the Olympic Movement, at an Extraordinary Session in Monte Carlo.

The IOC claimed it has made significant progress with the implementation of all 40 recommendations, claiming two-thirds of the 112 expected promises have been delivered, including changing the bidding process ahead of the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics, which Budapest, Los Angeles, Paris and Rome are all in the running for.

More than 20 per cent are ongoing, with some expected to be complete this year and the rest in 2016.

“Fighting corruption also means that good governance for sporting organisations is essential,” Bach said.

“The IOC has put the necessary measures in place for a long time.

“More recently, the reforms passed in Olympic Agenda 2020 exactly one year ago, ensure internationally recognised standards of governance.”

Agenda 2020 is one of the key topics to be discussed here over the next three days, while reports on the progress of upcoming Olympic Games, including Rio 2016, Pyeongchang 2018 and Tokyo 2020, will be presented by IOC sports director Christophe Dubi.

The election of new members is also on the agenda for the meeting, which is due to finish on Thursday (December 10).