By Nick Butler

Thomas Bach provided a summary of the discussions at his first IOC Executive Board meeting as President ©Getty ImagesDecember 14 - An Extraordinary Session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will be held in Monte Carlo next year to discuss potentially radical changes proposed by new President Thomas Bach, it was announced today.


This event is due to be held in the Principality on December 6 and 7 in Monaco after an invitation was extended by IOC member Prince Albert.

Bach spoke from the Swiss resort of Montreux, close to the IOC headquarters in Lausanne, following the conclusion of the first IOC Executive Board meeting since he assumed the Presidency in September, which included a special four-day brain storming session.

During the course of the sessions, several decisions were agreed and will be developed further with the wider membership over the next year ahead of the Extraordinary Session, Bach revealed.

The outcomes of these discussions will next form part of a wider debate at the IOC Session to be held before the Olympics in Sochi next February where Bach and the Executive Board will join with the rest of the membership.

The ideas generated there will then form the basis of the Olympic Agenda 2020, a roadmap for the Olympic Movement under Bach's Presidency that is due to be finalised by the end of 2014.

Proposals selected at the IOC Session will be taken forward in working groups, which will present concrete proposals at the Extraordinary Session.

It will be the first Session to be held in Monte Carlo since 1993 when Sydney were chosen to host the 2000 Olympics and Paralympics.

New WADA President Sir Craig Reedie, who was present at the Exec Board meeting as an IOC Vice President, will work closely with Bach to improve anti-doping measures ©Getty ImagesNew World Anti-Doping Agency President Sir Craig Reedie, present at the Executive Board meeting as an IOC vice-president, will work closely with Thomas Bach to improve anti-doping measures ©Getty Images


Among early initiatives launched by Bach are establishing two $10 million (£6 million/€7 million) schemes to tackle doping and corruption in sport.

The first fund will enable new research into anti-doping, in particular new techniques for the detection of prohibited substances and methods, perhaps involving tests related to hair and cell analysis as well as blood and urine samples.

In coordination with the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA), chaired by Britain's Sir IOC vice-president Craig Reedie, the programme will commence immediately, with international Governments also invited to match the sum put up by the Olympic Movement. 

The second fund is to protect athletes from "any kind of manipulation or related corruption," and comes as match-fixing has generated huge attention following a spate of cases in football.

The IOC are due tol sign an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Interpol early next year so as to better co-ordinate responses while a monitoring process - entitled the Integrity Betting, Intelligence System (IBIS) - will be set up to collate and distribute intelligence and research from International Federations.

The next steps will be taken at the IOC Session held alongside the Winter Olympics in Sochi...Bach has already visited Russia since taking up the Presidency ©AFP/Getty ImagesThe next steps on the road to the Olympic Agenda 2020 will be taken at the IOC Session held before Sochi 2014, a city Thomas Bach recently visited and held discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin ©AFP/Getty Images






The meeting, and these announcements, mark the start of a dialogue promised by Bach during his campaign for election, focusing on the themes outlined in his manifesto, as well as those of the five other unsuccessful Presidential candidates and the wider Olympic family, it was claimed.

A feasibility study for an Olympic television channel run by the Olympic Broadcasting Service (OBS) as well a variety of schemes, including targeting sustainability in sport were other items on the agenda, specifically highlighted by Bach.

Bach claimed there had been "fruitful, intensive and constructive discussions on a broad spectrum of issues," and that Executive Board members were "receptive to changes" throughout.

This "broad spectrum of issues" will also have included preparations for the upcoming Olympics in Sochi 2014 and Rio 2016 as well as the bidding process and composition of sports on the programme for future Games, it can be assumed.