New IOC President Bach ‘a safe pair of hands’

Thomas Bach, the new president of the International Olympic Committee. Picture: AP

The 59-year-old from Germany, a former Olympic fencing champion, won a comprehensive victory over five rivals after a contest which became acrimonious on the eve of the vote in Buenos Aires.

One of Bach’s opponents, Denis Oswald from Switzerland, publicly criticised the links between the German and the man regarded as the “kingmaker” in the IOC, Sheikh Ahmad al-Fahad al-Sabah, from Kuwait. Oswald was reprimanded for the remark, and it is understood he has since met Bach and they have agreed to put the matter behind them.

Reedie said: “Winning so convincingly is the ideal way to start what will be a long and difficult job for Thomas Bach. I believe this will mean firm leadership and that the Olympic movement is in safe hands.”

Asked about Oswald’s remarks, Reedie said: “I suspect he will regret saying that now.”

Sheikh Ahmad is head of the umbrella group of 205 national Olympic committees called ANOC which has significant influence through administering the Olympic Solidarity fund which has $438 million (£300m) to distribute between now and 2016 to needy projects.

Al-Sabah publicly committed himself to supporting Bach, helped Tokyo win the vote for the 2020 Olympics and also backed wrestling to be reinstated as an Olympic sport.

But the Sheikh told reporters in Buenos Aires: “I thank the media for making me a hero.But don’t hear those rumours. Don’t diminish the importance of Dr Bach. He’s an athlete with an Olympic gold medal, he’s an IOC member more senior than me, he has a lot of relationships, he has built his reputation for a long time, he has been in charge of a main part of the movement. Let’s be logical about his experience and his CV.”

Bach will succeed Jacques Rogge, who steps down after serving the maximum 12 years in the position. In his victory address, Bach issued a call for harmony, saying: “I would like to thank from the bottom of my heart all my friends and colleagues who voted for me – this is really an overwhelming sign of trust. I also thank my fellow candidates who I greatly respect.

“I will work with you in the coming years and repay your confidence. I know about the great responsibility of an IOC president.”

Bach added: “I want to lead according to my motto: ‘unity in diversity’. This means I will do my very best to balance all the different interests of stakeholders of the Olympic movement.”

He has also pledged to take a close look at the size, cost and sustainability of the Games, offering to make the bidding process more attractive to cities and usher in more than the present limit of just 28 sports.

While Rogge sought to contain the size and cost of the biggest multi-sports event by capping the number of athletes, sports and medals, Bach is more flexible. “We should definitely keep the limits on number of athletes and establish a limit on number of permanent facilities,” Bach said last month. “With this framework we could gain good flexibility with regard to the programme. The number of sports, there we can be more flexible.”

Bach won in the second round of voting with 49 votes beating closest rival Richard Carrion, the Puerto Rican who is in charge of the IOC’s finances who polled 29 votes. Ng Ser Miang from Singapore attracted six votes, Oswald – the Swiss official who oversaw London’s preparations for the 2012 Games – received five, and Ukraine’s Sergei Bubka four votes after C-K Wu, the Taiwanese head of the international boxing federation AIBA, had been eliminated in the first round.

During the last few days Bach was forced to deny allegations in a German TV documentary about his conduct during his days as a fencer in the 1970s. It accused Bach of wearing a wet glove to fool the electronic scoring system and made other claims about his business activities. A spokesman for Bach said the claims were “nonsense”.