A success for the IOC. And a victory for sport. Meeting this week in New York, the 193 member states of the United Nations officially adopted a resolution entitled " Sport, a factor in sustainable development ». It supports the mission of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, namely to be a unifying force bringing the world together in peaceful competition, free from any form of discrimination. Nothing very new, but the adoption of this text gave Thomas Bach the opportunity to appear one last time before the United Nations General Assembly. For his final speech at the podium before handing over his seat as IOC President, he multiplied his thanks, both for the consensus of the Member States around this resolution, but also more broadly for " a decade of partnership and friendship. » No less. « It was an honour to share this journey with you, united by our faith in the shared values of the United Nations and the IOC, continued Thomas Bach. I humbly ask you to offer my successor the same spirit of partnership in order to make the world a better place through sport – together.” The German leader did not leave the podium without having made a point of "to correct false information accusing the IOC of discrimination and politicization through its sanction of the Russian Olympic Committee." He reminded the Member States: " The fact is that we had to suspend the Russian Olympic Committee because it annexed sports organizations on the territory of the Olympic Committee of Ukraine. This violation of territorial integrity is a flagrant violation of our Olympic Charter – as it would be of the Charter of the United Nations. Despite this suspension, the IOC granted Russian athletes the privilege of participating in the Paris Games with a neutral status, that is, without reference to their suspended National Olympic Committee and its symbols."
