ANOC Closer to Forming Ethics Commission

(ATR) The ethics body for the world’s 205 NOCs it set to begin operations on Dec. 1.

One year after the ethics commission plan was proposed at ANOC’s annual meeting in Prague, a seven-member panel will be presented for approval at this year’s general assembly in Tokyo.

The commission will include representatives from each continent, who have legal training and experience in arbitration, plus one athlete representative. Although it claims ‘independence’, one official from the ANOC Executive Council will sit on the panel.

Commission members will be appointed for a term of four years and limited to a maximum of two terms.

Around the Rings is told the commission chair will be chosen by the seven members once they are appointed.

The announcement this week followed approval of bylaws by the ANOC executive council on the sidelines of the IOC Session in Buenos Aires. They set out the establishment, composition, powers and jurisdiction of the ANOC ethics commission and procedures that would be followed if a matter came before the commission. But the panel's powers and scope to adjudicate and sanction have yet to be publicly announced.

ANOC's ruling body also approved minor changes to its existing code of ethics to ensure it is aligned with the terms of reference and procedural rules bylaws. The previous version did not mention an ethics body.

The changes are set to be rubber stamped at the Nov. 28-29 ANOC general assembly.

"In 2016 we adopted a new code of ethics which was in line with international best-practice and would support a culture of ethics and integrity," said ANOC president Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah.

"With the approval of these bylaws, we have moved closer to the establishment of an independent ethics commission which will ensure that any breaches to the code of ethics receive a fair and impartial hearing."

The code of ethics is not currently published on the ANOC website.

Reported by Mark Bisson

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