The International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) executive board formerly suspended Iraq’s National Olympic Committee (NOC) on Saturday following a report detailing acts of abuse carried out under the old regime and will enlist the United Nations to provide assistance for Iraqi athletes before next year’s Athens Summer Olympic Games.
The IOC will be sending a delegation to Baghdad to create a new Olympic structure. The delegation is to be led by Pere Miro, the official in charge of relations with national Olympic committees. No date for the trip has been set but IOC Director General Francois Carrard said it should take place in late June before the IOC meeting in Prague.
IOC President Jacques Rogge said Miro’s mission will be to identify potential athletes and arrange coaching, training and other support. Some of the training will take place abroad due to the lack of infrastructure in Iraq.
An IOC statement says, “the IOC strongly condemns all acts of abuse carried out or ordered by the former president of the NOC of Iraq against athletes. They constitute gross violations of the ethical principles and rules of the IOC. The IOC expresses its sympathy for all athlete victims of this abuse.
“No person involved in any abuse committed by the previous administration will be allowed to participate in the reconstruction of the NOC.
“In order to achieve the goals of helping the athletes and aiding the reconstruction of the NOC in Iraq, the IOC will work together with the United Nations and other competent authorities”.
Carrard said enough information was available to ensure that no one involved in any abuse committed by the previous administration would be able to participate in the reconstructed organization.
“We know the names of key individuals, even if we don’t know where they are”, he said. “The old NOC of Iraq has disappeared, pop, into the air, but there are coaches, clubs and athletes. The mission will be focussing on the needs of those athletes. Preparing them for Athens is the immediate priority”.
Rogge said Iraqi athletes will be eligible to compete in Athens no matter now long it takes to form a recognized new Olympic committee. If necessary, Iraqi athletes could compete in Athens under the Olympic flag and anthem. Similar arrangements were made for athletes from the former Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and East Timor, he said.
