Argentine Olympic Committee President Gerardo Werthein has been elected chair of the Olympic Broadcasting Services for its Swiss operations ©Getty Images

Argentine Olympic Committee President Gerardo Werthein has been elected chair of the Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) for its Swiss operations, replacing Richard Pound, who was removed from the position last week.

The election of Werthein, an International Olympic Committee (IOC) member since 2011 and President of the Organising Committee for the Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games, was confirmed at a meeting of the Swiss-arm of the OBS Board.

Werthein has been a member of the Board of Directors of the OBS for four years and featured in a number of IOC Commissions, including radio and television, digital and technology, TV rights and new media, marketing and press.

Yiannis Exarchos heads the OBS administration as chief executive.

Also on the Board is vice-chair Christophe de Kepper, director-general of the IOC,  and several other members of the administration, including Christophe Dubi, Timo Lumme, Lana Haddad and Anne van Ysendyck.

They are joined by IOC member Juan Antonio Samaranch, independent member Michael Grindon and François Carrard, an influential lawyer who regularly works for International Federations. 

OBS Switzerland has also decided to have Werthein, De Kepper, Dubi, Haddad and Grindon as Board members going forward for OBS Spain.

Richard Pound was removed as chairman of the Olympic Broadcasting Services Board for both its Spanish and Swiss operations last week following several criticisms recently of decisions taken by IOC President Thomas Bach ©Getty Images
Richard Pound was removed as chairman of the Olympic Broadcasting Services Board for both its Spanish and Swiss operations last week following several criticisms recently of decisions taken by IOC President Thomas Bach ©Getty Images

As is the case on the OBS Switzerland Board, Grindon is an independent member.

Pound was appointed to the OBS position by IOC President Thomas Bach in 2014 after previously serving as head of the IOC's Television Rights Negotiations Commission in the 1980s at a time of huge change in Olympic broadcasting.

The 76-year-old has also been removed from his position on the IOC Legal Affairs Commission.

He remains, however, on the less influential marketing and communication panels.

Werthein, who has often led attacks on those who have criticised IOC decisions, including Pound, at recent meetings, is one of only three members of the current Swiss-arm of the OBS Board who are not members of the IOC administration.

The others are Samaranch, who already chairs the Spanish-arm of the Olympic Channel Services Board, and Carrard, a former IOC director-general.