Communiqué of the 12th Olympic Summit

At the invitation of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the leading representatives of the Olympic Movement met today for the 12th Olympic Summit, which was held at Olympic House in Lausanne, Switzerland. 

Chaired by the IOC President, the Olympic Summit involves the leading representatives of the Olympic Movement. It forms part of the ongoing dialogue and consultation on subjects of significance for the future of the Olympic Movement.

Peace Mission

1. The Summit participants welcomed the United Nations (UN) Resolution A/RES/78/10: “Building a peaceful and better world through sport and the Olympic ideal”. During the debate of this Resolution, the Russian government heavily attacked the position of the Olympic Movement concerning the restrictions for athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport. Following the debate, the Resolution was approved by an overwhelming majority of 118 Member States, with only two countries abstaining (the Russian Federation and the Syrian Arabic Republic) and no votes against. The resolution emphasises that the Olympic and Paralympic Games will be “a unifying event, and a meaningful opportunity to harness the power of sport to foster an atmosphere of peace, development, resilience, tolerance and understanding, accessibility and inclusion”. The Olympic Summit participants expressed their gratitude to all the Member States that supported this resolution.
2. All the Participants noted the very difficult geopolitical situation in the world, with the too many wars and conflicts taking place. They collectively expressed their very strong feelings for the innocent victims of the violence and their families. They clearly expressed their hope for peaceful solutions. They reiterated the call by the Olympic Movement to all political leaders in the world to “Give peace a chance.”

Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024

3. All the participants expressed their confidence that the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024 will be a symbol of peace and unity. They will unite billions of people around the world behind a shared vision of peaceful competition.
4. The Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024 will be the first of a new era, fully aligned with Olympic Agenda 2020 from start to finish. They will be younger, more inclusive, more urban and more sustainable.
5. The Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024 will be the first Olympic Games with full gender parity. The participants welcomed the fact that the IOC, working with the International Federations, has changed the sports qualification quota and sports programme, resulting in equal quota places being distributed: 50 per cent to women and 50 per cent to men.
6. The Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024 will be more sustainable. The aim is to cut the carbon emissions by half compared to the average of the Olympic and Paralympic Games London 2012 and Rio 2016. This would mean that the objective set by the Paris Climate Agreement for 2030 would be achieved six years ahead of schedule. The Olympic and Paralympic Games will be powered by 100 per cent renewable energy. Ninety-five per cent of venues will be pre-existing or temporary facilities.
7. The Olympic Summit welcomed the fact that the Olympic Truce Resolution A/RES/78/10 by the UN for the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024 is very explicit in “welcoming all the delegations of National Olympic and Paralympic Committees athletes and the Refugee Olympic and Paralympic Teams admitted by the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee to participate in the Games”. Furthermore, this Resolution supports the autonomy of sport and the political neutrality of the IOC, as enshrined in the Olympic Charter.
8. The Summit was informed by representatives of the International Summer Sports Federations that, following the very strict recommendations of the IOC, Individual Neutral Athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport have participated in a large number of events respecting these strict conditions, and these events have largely been without incident, with only one notable exception.
9. The Summit was informed that, despite the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), the IOC did not change its recommendations concerning the participation of Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN) under these strict conditions. It was emphasised that such protection of the rights of individual athletes to participate in competitions despite the suspension of their National Olympic Committee (NOC) is a well-established practice, respecting human rights, and has been implemented across a number of suspended NOCs during past Olympic Games. The ROC had to be suspended because of its unilateral decision to include as its members the regional sports organisations under the authority of the NOC of Ukraine, which is a breach of the Olympic Charter because it violates the territorial integrity of the NOC of Ukraine.
10. They further welcomed the strict conditions announced by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) for the World Para Sports, which are aligned with those outlined by the IOC.
11. The representatives of the International Summer Sports Federations asked the IOC to declare eligible for participation in the Olympic Games Paris 2024 those AINs who have qualified or will qualify on the field of play. They further asked for a decision as soon as possible to bring clarity to their entire Olympic qualification procedures and for all athletes concerned.
12. The representatives of the Continental Associations of NOCs and the President of ANOC supported this request in the interest of the NOCs and their athletes.
13. The Chair of the IOC Athletes’ Commission expressed appreciation for this request by the International Summer Sports Federations and NOCs. She informed the Summit that globally the view of the vast majority of athletes is that athletes should not be punished for the actions of their governments. She also emphasised that the strict conditions that have been implemented in the qualification procedure must be maintained and consistently applied across all Olympic sports in which AINs are eligible to participate. She concluded that clarity around whether AINs will be able to compete in Paris and the conditions for their participation would be welcomed by athletes, as the Olympic Games Paris 2024 are approaching quickly.
14. Following the above-mentioned requests, the IOC confirmed that the participation of such AINs in the Olympic Games could happen only under the existing strict conditions. Neither the qualification system developed by the respective International Federations nor the number of allocated quota places to a sport will be changed for AINs with a Russian or Belarusian passport. They will have to be in compliance with all the eligibility criteria applicable to any Olympic athlete.
15. The participants reaffirmed the continued solidarity with and support for the Ukrainian athletes and the Ukrainian Olympic Community by the entire Olympic Movement.

Anti-Doping

16. Following an update by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) President and the International Testing Agency (ITA) Chair, all participants expressed full confidence in the Pre-Games Testing Programme and stressed the importance of the cooperation of all those involved in the field of clean sport.  WADA called on all Anti-Doping Organisations and International Federations to reinforce the implementation of the Biological Passport.
17. The Summit welcomed the focus of the ITA’s intelligence-led Pre-Games Testing Anti-Doping Programme, which targets athletes, sports and countries with the highest risks and athletes who are likely to qualify for Paris 2024.
18. It was emphasised that doping controls in Russia continue. This year, more than 10,500 samples from Russian athletes in and out of competition have been collected despite the extremely limited number of AINs taking part in international competitions. This means that Russia remains among the top-ten nations being tested. In addition, it was indicated that the ITA had conducted well over 400 out-of-competition tests on athletes with Russian nationality in 2023. Both blood and urine samples are transported with a strict chain of custody to multiple laboratories outside the country. Any adverse analytical findings are being actioned and are being monitored by WADA.
19. The Summit welcomed the fact that the ITA has launched its programme to re-analyse the samples collected at the Olympic Games Rio in 2016, targeting all the athletes likely to be present in Paris. This is possible thanks to the IOC’s initiative to store samples from the Olympic Games and to finance the re-analyses.

Politicisation of Sport

20. The Summit participants noted that the UN Truce Resolution (A/RES/78/10) supports “the independence and autonomy of sport as well as the mission of the International Olympic Committee in leading the Olympic Movement and of the International Paralympic Committee in leading the Paralympic Movement, and recognized the unifying and conciliative nature of Olympic Games and major international sport events and that such events are organized in the spirit of peace, mutual understanding, friendship, tolerance and inadmissibility of discrimination of any kind.”
21. Contrary to this Resolution, the Russian government, following a decree from the President of the Russian Federation, intends to organise clearly politically motivated sports events in Russia.
22. WADA expressed strong opposition to such events from an anti-doping perspective. The WADA President emphasised that it would be contrary to the spirit of the World Anti-Doping Code to have such an event in a country that is non-compliant. One of the consequences that WADA is seeking in the latest compliance case against RUSADA that was referred to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) recently is that Russia cannot be awarded any major events. Additionally, such events would be organised by the very same Russian government, a government that was implicated in a systemic doping-programme at the Olympic Winter Games Sochi 2014, and later also the manipulation of anti-doping data. Under these circumstances, athletes could have no confidence in a safe and fair competition.
23. The Chair of the IOC Athletes’ Commission strongly supported the WADA position. Furthermore, the Summit was informed that athletes would be very concerned about being forced into participation in such politically motivated sports events, thereby becoming part of a political propaganda campaign.
24. The Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) and the Winter Olympic Federations (WOF) reaffirmed their recommendations to IFs not to be involved in any way in such politically motivated sports events. They confirmed that every IF should refuse to consider the inclusion of such events in its international sports calendar and should not acknowledge the results achieved by athletes at these events.
25. The President of ANOC and representatives of Continental Associations of NOCs declared that their organisations would in no way support the participation of athletes in such events.

Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026

26. The Summit was informed that Milano Cortina 2026 Organising Committee is about to finalise its venue master plan. It has evolved in the direction of the recommendations given by the IOC with regard to the sliding centre. The IOC expects the final decision to involve organising the sliding events in an already existing fully functioning sliding centre outside Italy in the near future.
27. The IOC reaffirmed that it could only approve a venue that is located in a country that guarantees respect for the Host City Contract, in particular with regard to the free access to the Olympic Games for all participants accredited by the IOC.
28. While all the Winter IFs noted and welcomed the increased engagement by the Organising Committee, the ice sports IF representatives informed the Summit that they will continue to closely monitor the developments with regard to their competition venues.

Future Games

29. The Chair of the Games Optimisation Group informed the Summit that the Group includes the leaders of all stakeholders; this means Organising Committees, Coordination Commissions, the IPC, ASOIF, WOF, ANOC, athletes and a range of IOC commissions. Its mandate is to shape the future of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, enhance the athletes’ experience and to ensure the uniqueness of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in an ever-changing environment. Within this mandate, the Games Optimisation Group has identified 40 measures for the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024, which will benefit all stakeholders.

Esports

30. The Olympic Summit was informed that the IOC Esports Commission is studying the creation of “Olympic Esports Games” by the IOC. This commission includes stakeholders of the Olympic Movement as well as games publishers, teams and other esports experts.
31. The Chair of the IOC Esports Commission informed the Summit that the “Olympic Esports Games” project has been positively received with enthusiasm by the different representatives of the Esports community. He reaffirmed that such “Olympic Esports Games” would be guided by the Olympic values. This means that only electronic games that are aligned with the Olympic values will be taken into consideration. Furthermore, IFs that are already engaged in an e-version of their sport would be the IOC’s first go-to partners. The IOC will also strive for gender equality in Esports as well the inclusion of people with disabilities.
32. The Summit noted that “Olympic Esports Games” would, by their nature, have to be organised by the IOC under a new structure, different from the traditional one for Olympic Games.

Digital Engagement

33. The Summit participants learned that the number of monthly users on Olympics.com had grown to 18 million in October 2023, which puts the platform amongst the leading digital sports properties. The @Olympics social media handles across all platforms had reached 640 million monthly engagements.
34. The Summit participants heard that, with regard to the IOC’s promotion of the Paris 2024 Olympic Qualifier events, the Olympic Qualifier Season organised since June 2022 had achieved over one billion engagements across Olympic social channels. This covers more than 400 Qualifier events. The @Olympics social media handles have strengthened significantly the awareness for these IF-organised events, in some cases by up to 50 per cent.
35. The Summit was also informed about the “Let’s Move” campaign, which is a global initiative of the IOC in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) to inspire people to live healthier lifestyles. Working with high-profile Olympians and athletes, more than 15 million people took part in physical activity on Olympic Day 2023. The second part of the campaign, the Let’s Move Street Challenge, generated 91 million social media engagements across all @olympics social media handles. It focused on getting people moving in the sports of BMX, skateboarding and breaking.

Safeguarding

36. The Summit was informed by the IOC that a new and decentralised “hub” model had been developed for athlete safeguarding. Such a model for the entire Olympic Movement had been requested by ASOIF.
37. This new model for athlete safeguarding represents a bottom-up approach, which emphasises the need to address this highly sensitive and highly complex social issue at the local level. It ensures that focus and resources are channelled to where they are most needed. In this way, the new model centres on the athlete experience. Each hub will help athletes to access impartial support and guidance, building on existing networks and services. The first pilot hubs will be established in southern Africa and the Pacific islands.
38. This new safeguarding model acknowledges and emphasises that safeguarding is the responsibility of both sports organisations and governments – with both having distinct but complementary roles to play. Harassment and abuse can be addressed only in cooperation between sports organisations and governments, and by ensuring that the voices of athletes are central to shaping the structures which seek to support them.
39. The Summit welcomed the USD 10 million per Olympiad fund provided by the IOC to strengthen safeguarding at the local level.
40. The IOC Safeguarding Officer in Sport certification programme was highly appreciated. By the time of the Olympic Games Paris 2024, more than 250 safeguarding officers from 84 countries will be certified after their seven-month training programme.

Lausanne, 5 December 2023

Source : IOC