The influential Oswald, who is also President of the International Rowing Federation (FISA) and chair of the IOC Coordination Commission for London 2012, will finish his term as an IOC Executive Board member this summer at London 2012 but his four-year term as ASOIF President does not expire until May 2013.

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 if he resigns as ASOIF President at the end of this year, five months before his term in the ASOIF role expires, he will be allowed to retain his Executive Board seat until the end of December 2012.

Providing that an IOC member replaces Oswald as ASOIF President, they will be promoted to his seat on the IOC Executive Board from January 2013 but if his successor is not an IOC member, ASOIF will nominate a President from one of their federations to represent the ASOIF concerns on the Executive Board.

A new President is therefore set to be elected at the ASOIF General Assembly on May 22 which will take place in Quebec City during SportAccord.

The issue was discussed here this week by the eight-member ASOIF Council here at the Winter Youth Olympics and Andrew Ryan, ASOIF director, said that Oswald resigning shortly before his term expires appears to be the best solution in order to allow the organisation to hold an Executive Board seat.

"ASOIF has looked at all of the possibilities to resolve this but the rules are quite clear," Ryan told insidethegames.

"It now appears that the best solution is for Denis to step down shortly before his term expires so that ASOIF can maintain it Executive Board representation.

"Nothing is confirmed yet as we need to check everything through but the plan is to elect a new ASOIF President at SportAccord in Quebec City and they will act as President-elect until Denis officially steps down at the end of 2012.

"It seems like the best solution for everyone involved and 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."

Given that an 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, with all nominations due no later than 15 days before the ASOIF General Assembly.


Leading candidates could include International Cycling Union (UCI) President Pat McQuaid (pictured) of Ireland, who is currently the ASOIF vice-president, and Ukrainian pole vault legend Sergey Bubka, who is a member of the ASOIF Council and one of the rising stars in 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.

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