KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 11 – Germany’s Thomas Bach was elected as the new ninth president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Tuesday.
According to the IOC official website, www.olympic.org, Bach was chosen over fellow presidential candidates Sergey Bubka (Ukraine), Richard Carrion (Puerto Rico), Ser Miang Ng (Singapore), Denis Oswald (Switzerland) and Ching-kuo Wu (Chinese Taipei).
Bach replaces Jacques Rogge, whose 12-year tenure officially ended at the close of the 125th IOC Session in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Tuesday.
The president is elected by the IOC members by secret ballot for a term of eight years, with the possibility to stand for re-election for a second four-year term.
Bach in his winning speech said: “I want to lead the IOC according to my motto, ‘unity in diversity’. I want to be a president for all of you. This means I will do my very best to balance well all the different interests of the stakeholders of the Olympic movement.
“This is really an overwhelming sign of trust and confidence (in being elected as the new IOC president)…I know about the great responsibility of an IOC president. This makes me humble.”
On the final day of the 125th IOC Session, the IOC members also voted for the members of the Executive Board, which consists of the IOC president, four vice-presidents and 10 other members, who were elected by the Session in a secret ballot, for a four-year term.
Anita L. DeFrantz succeeds John Coates, who was elected as a new vice-president, a slot left vacant by Ser Miang Ng, whose term of office came to an end Wednesday.
Besides DeFrantz, Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) president Tunku Tan Sri Imran Tuanku Jaafar and Richard W. Pound were among the candidates for the vice-president post.
-BERNAMA
