It's done. As announced, Ng Ser Miang became on Thursday morning, at the Sorbonne, in the heart of Paris, the second declared candidate to succeed Jacques Rogge at the head of the IOC. The Singaporean vice-president of the International Olympic Committee had previously traveled to Lausanne to communicate his intentions to Jacques Rogge. Then he spoke in French, a language that he is learning to master.
“It is a great honor and a privilege for me to announce to you, in this prestigious and symbolic place, my candidacy for the presidency of the IOC,” declared Ng Ser Miang. Before switching to English. And continue: “The Olympic movement is witness to an increasingly interconnected world. He will need a leader who practices inclusion, who has a global vision based on the contributions of all and whose decision-making is collective. This will require a leader capable of strengthening the autonomy of the Olympic family behind a unifying vision. In all modesty, I am convinced that I have the experience of consensus, the understanding of the Olympic movement and the passion for Olympism which give me the qualities necessary for this future leader. »
If elected next September in Buenos Aires, Ng Ser Miang will become the first Asian president of the IOC. The only non-European president was the American Avery Brundage, in office from 1952 to 1972.
After Thomas Bach and Ng Ser Miang, who will be the next contender to declare his intentions? The deadline for submitting an application has been set for June 10 by the IOC. So there is less than a month left. Other names should soon follow. Let us cite, among the most likely, those of the Puerto Rican Richard Carrion, president of the IOC Finance Commission, the Swiss René Fasel, president of the International Ice Hockey Federation, the Moroccan Nawal El Moutawakel, vice-president of the IOC, of the Ukrainian Sergei Bubka, member of the IOC Executive Board. Without forgetting the Swiss Denis Oswald, president of the International Rowing Federation (FISA), and the Taiwanese Ching-Kuo Wu, president of the AIBA Boxing Federation.
“The IOC is doing well, even very well,” Jacques Rogge has been repeating for several months. So good that it attracts a crowd of desires.
To read his full speech, click here
