Going for gold: A look at the political and sporting challenges facing the next IOC president

From top left: Sebastian Coe, Kirsty Coventry, Johan Eliasch, Prince Feisal Al-Hussein of Jordan, David Lappartient, Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr. and Morinari Watanabe are competing for the IOC presidency. (AFP)
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Updated 17 March 2025
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Going for gold: A look at the political and sporting challenges facing the next IOC president

  • Seven candidates are competing in the first contested International Olympic Committee election since 2013 to replace Thomas Bach
  • Coventry is just the second female presidential candidate in the IOC’s 131-year history and the first with a chance to win

COSTA NAVARINO, Greece: An in tray of Olympic challenges spanning political, social, sporting and operational issues awaits the next IOC president who will be elected Thursday.

Seven candidates are competing in the first contested International Olympic Committee election since 2013 to replace Thomas Bach, who formally leaves office in June after the mandated maximum of 12 years.

They include two Olympic gold medalists, Sebastian Coe and Kirsty Coventry, and the son of a former IOC president, Juan Antonio Samaranch.

Four are presidents of Olympic sports bodies, including Johan Eliasch from skiing, David Lappartient from cycling, and Morinari Watanabe from gymnastics. Coe also leads track’s World Athletics, organized the 2012 London Olympics and is widely viewed as the most qualified candidate.

Three are members of the Bach-chaired IOC executive board that meets Monday: Samaranch, Prince Feisal Al Hussein of Jordan and Coventry, the sports minister of Zimbabwe who would be the first woman leader in the IOC’s 131-year history.

Coventry is seen as Bach’s preferred choice to be elected by about 100 IOC members invited into an exclusive club from royal families, international politics and business, sports officials plus past and current athletes.

Here’s a look at some of the issues facing them:

The US

The Summer Games is the foundation of the Olympic movement, where each of the 207 officially recognized teams competes. Fewer than 100 countries participate at the Winter Games.

For the IOC, bringing the world’s athletes together in the Olympic village is a powerful symbol of political neutrality and promoting peace.

The next Summer Games is in Los Angeles in 2028, in the final months of President Donald Trump’s second term. As the host nation head of state, he should help formally open the games at a July 14 ceremony likely drawing the biggest global audience for any broadcast in 2028.

A challenge until then is protecting what the IOC calls Olympic values, including gender equality and universal inclusion.

American relations this year with long-time allies like Canada, Ukraine, Denmark and Germany has cast doubt on how much warmth there will be for the US as a welcoming host in 2028.

The federal government’s limited operational role for the Olympics includes security and border issues, including visas. A test of those plans will be the US co-hosting the 2026 World Cup in men’s soccer with Canada and Mexico. Iran should be among the first teams to qualify next week.

The next IOC president will need nimble diplomatic skills, balanced with close ties to the Democratic-leaning local organizing committee, city of LA and state of California.

Global politics

The IOC has been closely aligned with the United Nations and the multilateral rules-based order shaping the world for 80 years. That is under pressure, from the US and elsewhere. When and how to reintegrate Russia in the Olympic family is pressing.

If these can seem uniquely challenging times, Coe noted his career as a track champion at Moscow in 1980 and LA in 1984 was an Olympic era of Cold War boycotts and exclusion for apartheid-era South Africa.

“They always have been (navigable) in the past,” Coe said of the pending diplomatic turmoil.

Equality for women

Gender equality has been a key policy of the Bach presidency: Equal quotas of men and women athletes, higher profile scheduling of women’s events, men and women flag bearers for each team, more women members of the IOC.

Coventry is just the second female presidential candidate in the IOC’s 131-year history and the first with a chance to win.

Gender eligibility in Olympic sports is now a hot-button issue, fueled further by President Trump’s executive order on transgender athletes in the US and promises to pressure the IOC, and coming after the furor and disinformation around women’s boxing in Paris last year.

The IOC had some responsibility for women’s boxing arriving in Paris with what seemed outdated eligibility rules. Those could be reviewed before 2028.

Stricter rules on transgender athletes — barring from women’s events anyone who went through male puberty — already were passed before Paris by swimming, cycling led by Lappartient and track and field led by Coe.

Some candidates in Thursday’s election, including Coe, Samaranch and Eliasch have urged the IOC to take a clearer policy lead.

2036 Olympics host

The new president’s eight-year mandate runs through 2033 and all games hosts in that time are already picked. Even 2034 is decided for the Salt Lake City Winter Games and 2038 looks destined for Switzerland.

The next big decision is the 2036 Summer Games with high-level lobbying under way by countries like India and Qatar. Doha would perhaps anchor a regional project with neighboring Gulf states.

There is no set timetable for a decision in the new, flexible and more opaque process designed by Bach which largely cuts members out of decisions, but limits the risk of vote-buying.

Climate change

The 2036 Olympics seem likely to move from the July-August period the Summer Games has occupied since the 2004 Athens Olympics.

It can be a catalyst for a wide review of the global sports calendar amid rising temperatures and extreme weather.

With fewer options to find Winter Games hosts, Eliasch proposes in his manifesto to rotate among a select group of permanent venues.

Engaging athletes

Olympic athletes could be winners in the election.

Coe’s World Athletics broke an IOC taboo by paying $50,000 to track and field gold medalists in Paris, and promises payments for silver and bronze in LA.

Samaranch wants to give athletes control of video of their Olympic performances currently denied to protect broadcasters’ exclusivity. Athletes have long objected to the strict drafting of Olympic Charter Rule 40 that limits their commercial options at the games.

Coventry is the most recent Olympic athlete, swimming at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Games, and was their representative on the IOC executive board from 2018-21. Her manifesto offers no new benefits but supports the established Athlete 365 program helping prepare for their next careers.

Engaging voters

A theme for some candidates is that voters Thursday want more input and active involvement in the IOC’s work. Bach’s management style is widely seen as controlling.

Lappartient called for more debating instead of just listening; Coe said “I don’t micro-manage“; Prince Feisal suggested unanimous votes that are routine “means there’s something wrong.”

Samaranch offers members more say in selecting Olympic hosts. The members’ age limit could rise five years to 75. Coe even would let members vote in just four years, not eight, whether to re-elect him.


’Great time’: In Pakistani capital, padel pops up as new favorite Ramadan sport

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’Great time’: In Pakistani capital, padel pops up as new favorite Ramadan sport

  • Padel is one of the fastest growing sports in the world and Islamabad residents are bewitched by global craze this Ramadan season
  • Padel games provide fun-filled pastime, opportunity to socialize and means to enjoy exercising without hard strain during fasting month

ISLAMABAD: On a recent Ramadan night, Mamoon Sabri, 27, slipped into a tracksuit an hour after the iftar meal and headed to his new favorite getaway: a padel court.

Racket in hand, he walked onto the artificial turf at The Pad, Islamabad’s first padel club, as a group of his friends also arrived. Soon they began hitting forehands and backhands across the net, slamming the ball off the back wall, scooping it over the net and teasing each other with shots close to the wall — and so went on an hour-and-a-half long game of padel.

The racket sport, a mix of tennis and squash that is the fastest-growing sport in the world, is also gaining traction in Pakistan, especially in Ramadan, with its culture of sports and physical activities in parks, streets, and sports grounds after iftar and until the pre-dawn suhoor meal, fostering a sense of community and promoting health at the same time. 

At The Pad and other padel courts in the Pakistani capital, padel games are offering people both a fun-filled pastime and an opportunity to socialize and exercise in the hours between iftar and suhoor. A Ramadan tournament is taking place at The Pad currently, with more than 50 teams participating in all-girls, mixed doubles and advanced team categories. 

As of 2024, there are approximately 30 million amateur padel players worldwide, with the sport, founded in Mexico in the 1960s, now played in over 130 countries, according to the International Padel Federation.

“Padel is a great time and Ramadan is always a great time for sports in Islamabad anyway because everyone wants to play, everyone wants to stay awake till sehri [suhoor] one way or the other,” Sabri, a sports broadcaster and consultant, told Arab News shortly after winning a men’s doubles game.

Mustafa Mirza, a co-founder of The Pad, said the club was fostering an atmosphere of camaraderie in Ramadan.

“Padel is a social hub and it is linked more with the lifestyle,” Mirza said. “We have an excellent response in Ramadan. We feel that the people who were not familiar with padel, because they ventured out in Ramadan and they found this sport to be so challenging and rigorous, and then they have taken part in it.”

Indeed, from dedicated sports clubs to pop-up facilities in upscale neighborhoods, there is a surge in courts and players this Ramadan, with families, friends, and even corporate groups gathering late into the night and enjoying the sport’s social nature. Many players said they would cap off their matches with post-game hangouts at nearby cafés and restaurants where they could enjoy suhoor in groups. 

Mahnoor Khan, a 27-year-old employee at a telecom company, said she had come to the courts for the first time with her husband and a group of friends, describing padel as a “very good sport for family and friends.”

“In Islamabad you don’t have a lot of options other than dining out, so this is the very first time that they have introduced something that is other than dining out for socializing,” she told Arab News. “You have a good game, and you go out after iftar or whenever … I think the concept is now spreading really fast.”

Zainab Ameen, who manages The Pad club with her husband, another co-founder Ameen-ud-Din Hafeez, said though the club had only launched a few months ago, the response was “tremendous.”

“We never thought that we will get this kind of response. We just started with two courts and when we got a very good response, we opened two more. And now, we are going to open a futsol [arena],” she told Arab News.

What makes padel particularly appealing during Ramadan is that as a low-impact sport, padel lets one enjoy exercising without any hard strain on the muscles, thus serving as an effective means of staying fit without feeling exceedingly overwhelmed in Ramadan.

“It’s a very low skill floor for the game to play. So, anyone who is starting off will have a good time because they are going to feel like, ‘Wow, what a shot, I am a machine’,” Sabri said. 

“But then there is also a very good skill ceiling … It’s a very interesting mixture in a way most racket sports are.”


Luka Doncic scores 31 after a big first quarter, and the Lakers rout the depleted Nuggets 120-108

Updated 11 min 45 sec ago
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Luka Doncic scores 31 after a big first quarter, and the Lakers rout the depleted Nuggets 120-108

  • The Lakers scored a season-high 46 points in the first quarter led by Luka Doncic
  • Doncic was afire from the opening tip, scoring nine points in less than three minutes and 20 points in about eight minutes

LOS ANGELES: Luka Doncic had 31 points, nine rebounds and seven assists in just three quarters of work, and the Los Angeles Lakers routed the Denver Nuggets 120-108 on Wednesday night in a matchup of injury-depleted Western Conference contenders.
Nikola Jokic (elbow) and Jamal Murray (ankle) missed their second straight games for Denver, while LeBron James (hamstring) and Rui Hachimura (knee) continued their longer-term absences for Los Angeles.
Austin Reaves had 22 points and eight assists for the Lakers, who have won nine consecutive home games and three straight since finishing their 0-4 road trip last Friday with a loss at Denver.
Aaron Gordon scored 26 points for the Nuggets.
The Lakers scored a season-high 46 points in the first quarter led by Doncic, who scorched Denver for 21 points in his highest-scoring quarter of the season. He missed the Lakers’ 131-126 loss to Denver last Friday, when the Lakers nearly won without him and James.
Los Angeles led by 28 after three quarters, allowing Doncic to get extra rest amid five home games in seven days.
Bronny James played the final 3:58.
Takeaways
Nuggets: Even without Jokic and Murray, offense wasn’t the problem. Los Angeles made 60 percent of its shots in the first three quarters.
Lakers: Doncic dominated early, but they’re thriving with balance. Six Lakers scored in double figures, and big men Jaxson Hayes and Christian Koloko played solid defense.
Key moment
Doncic was afire from the opening tip, scoring nine points in less than three minutes and 20 points in about eight minutes. He led an 18-2 run midway through the first quarter with three 3-pointers and three assists before cooling off.
Key stat
Doncic scored 30 points for the 200th time in his NBA career. He’s done it eight times in 16 games with LA.
Up next
The Nuggets visit the Trail Blazers on Friday. The Lakers host the Bucks on Thursday.


Pakistan football team to travel to Saudi Arabia for AFC Asian Cup qualifier camp

Updated 20 March 2025
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Pakistan football team to travel to Saudi Arabia for AFC Asian Cup qualifier camp

  • Pakistan will face Syria in AFC Asian Cup qualifier fixture on Mar. 25 in Saudi Arabia's Al-Ahsa
  • Green shirts to resume training camp in Saudi Arabia under Head Coach Stephen Constantine

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s national football team will be in Saudi Arabia on Thursday, where they will resume training for the upcoming AFC Asian Cup qualifier fixture against Syria, the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) said in a statement. 

Pakistan will kick off their AFC Asian Cup 2027 qualification campaign against Syria on Mar. 25 at the Prince Abdullah bin Jalawi Stadium in Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia. 

The green shirts concluded their training session in the eastern city of Lahore on Wednesday night, the PFF said. 

"The team is set to depart for Saudi Arabia tomorrow night, where they will continue their training under the guidance of Head Coach Stephen Constantine," the PFF said. 

Earlier this month, Pakistan reappointed Constantine, who previously served as the country's head coach from late 2023 until mid-2024, as head coach for the Syria fixture. 

Pakistan's inclusion in the qualifier was made possible after the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) lifted its international suspension against the country earlier this month. 

FIFA hit Pakistan on Feb. 6 with a third international suspension in less than eight years after the federation rejected its electoral reforms. Following the suspension, the PFF unanimously approved FIFA's proposed constitutional amendments in an extraordinary meeting in Lahore this month. 

Pakistan are placed in Group E of the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers alongside Syria, Afghanistan and Myanmar.

PAKISTAN PROBABLES

Goalkeepers: Yousuf Butt, Saqib Hanif, Abdul Basit and Adam Khan

Defenders: Abdullah Iqbal, Easah Suliman, Haseeb Khan, Junaid Shah, Mamoon Moosa, Mohammad Fazal, Abdul Rehman and Waqar Ihtisam

Midfielders: Alamgir Ghazi, Ali Uzair, Ali Zafar, Muhammad Umar Hayat, Rahis Nabi, Toqeer ul Hassan, Umair Ali and Moin Ahmed

Forwards: Fareedullah, Harun Hamid, Imran Kayani, Mckeal Abdullah, Abdul Samad, Shayak Dost and Muhammad Adeel Younas


Saudi midfielder Mohammed Kanno to miss World Cup qualifier against China through injury

Updated 20 March 2025
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Saudi midfielder Mohammed Kanno to miss World Cup qualifier against China through injury

  • The Green Falcons, who sit in 4th place in their group on 6 points with 4 games to play, face China on Thursday and Japan on Tuesday
  • ‘We expect to perform well … Qualification is in our hands and we want to win,’ says national team coach Herve Renard

RIYADH: Midfielder Mohammed Kanno will miss the Saudi national team’s 2026 World Cup qualifier against China on Thursday but could be available for the match against Japan on Tuesday, coach Herve Renard revealed on Wednesday.

“Kanno will not be ready for tomorrow’s match, just as he wasn’t for the Australia game, but we hope he can travel with us to Japan,” the Frenchman said. Kanno picked up an injury playing for his club, Al-Hilal, against Al-Taawoun on Saturday.

The Saudis are one of four teams on six points in Group C after six games of the final stage of the Asian qualifiers. With four games left to play, Australia are in second place on seven points and Japan top the group on 16 points. The top two teams from each of the three groups will qualify for the World Cup, while the teams in third and fourth place progress to the play-off phase.

“We expect to perform well,” Renard said of the upcoming double-header. “There is no pressure on us after the Gulf Cup, and we are still fortunate to have a direct qualification opportunity after our previous matches. Qualification is in our hands and we want to win.”

He attributed recent improved performances by China to their Croatian coach, Branko Ivankovic, adding: “Matches against him were tough when he coached Oman, and tomorrow’s match will be no different. China is a well-organized team that excels in attacking transitions and we must be ready for that.”

Renard thanked the Saudi fans for ensuring Thursday’s clash at Al-Awwal Park in Riyadh is a sell-out, and highlighted the important role they play in supporting the players.

“We can’t do it alone,” he said. “We need the fans, they are the foundation of our qualification. We need everyone and we must show our desire and determination to win.”

Ivankovic acknowledged Saudi Arabia’s superiority ahead of the clash but expressed confidence in his players’ ability to get a result.

“Saudi Arabia is one of Asia’s top teams,” he said. “They played against Argentina and defeated them in the World Cup. They have the advantage but we believe in our chances and capabilities and want to complete our mission with a positive result.

“We have prepared well for Thursday’s match. We have 15 new players, bringing fresh energy and experience. We know (the Saudis) well — they are an excellent team.”

Recalling his previous encounter with Renard, Ivankovic added: “We faced him when I was with Oman. He is not just a good coach but an outstanding one.”

He also had high praise for the injured Kanno, describing him as “the best Saudi midfielder,” but added: “It doesn’t matter whether he plays or not. We prepare for our opponent with their full squad. That’s our approach.”


IOC names outgoing boss Bach as honorary president for life

Updated 20 March 2025
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IOC names outgoing boss Bach as honorary president for life

  • The proposal was passed by acclamation with a teary-eyed Bach, whose successor will be elected on Thursday, earning a standing ovation from the IOC members
  • His tenure as president was at times rocky, with the Olympics hit by the 2014 Sochi Games’ doping scandal, which led to Russian athletes participating as neutrals in several editions of the Games
  • Bach, 71, will step down from his post on June 23 and will also vacate his IOC membership post

PYLOS, Greece: Outgoing International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach was named honorary president for life on Wednesday, with the German due to step down in June after 12 years in charge.

The proposal was passed by acclamation with a teary-eyed Bach, whose successor will be elected on Thursday, earning a standing ovation from the IOC members at their session in southern Greece.

Bach, a German lawyer and former Olympic fencing champion, took over in 2013 and immediately introduced wide-ranging reforms both in relation to the Olympic Games and the IOC itself, including reducing the size and cost of the Games to make them more attractive to future host cities.

His tenure as president was at times rocky, with the Olympics hit by the 2014 Sochi Games’ Russian state-backed doping scandal, which led to Russian athletes participating as neutrals in several editions of the Games.

He also had to deal with political tensions on the Korean Peninsula prior to the 2018 winter Games in South Korea’s Pyeongchang, and was also forced to postpone the Tokyo 2020 Olympics by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Beijing 2022 winter Games were also held without fans due to the pandemic.

The Paris 2024 Games had the participation of Russian athletes once more as neutrals following the country’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Bach, 71, will step down from his post on June 23 and will also vacate his IOC membership post.

There are seven candidates to succeed Bach, with IOC vice president Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr, Zimbabwe’s sports minister Kirsty Coventry and World Athletics President Sebastian Coe of Britain seen as the frontrunners.

International cycling chief David Lappartient, International Gymnastics Federation head Morinari Watanabe, Prince Feisal Al Hussein of Jordan and Olympic newcomer and multimillionaire Johan Eliasch, who heads the International Ski and Snowboard Federation, complete the lineup.