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IOC part ways with SportAccord

Xinhua, June 8, 2015 Adjust font size:

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced to suspend its recognition of SportAccord after the executive board meeting here on Sunday.

The umbrella body's president Marius Vizer blasted out in April while attending a meeting in Sochi, having attacked on the IOC's leadership over international sports federations.

His comments, accusing the IOC of being dated, lacking transparency and blocking creations, caused a wave of withdrawal and departures of IFs from SportAccord.

Mark Adams, the IOC director of communications, told a briefing after Sunday's executive board meeting that the IOC will stop offering funding for SportAccord until it completes reorganziation.

"Like many members of SportAccord, we are suspending our recognition and we will withhold our funding until these questions are answered and an agreement between the stakeholders has been reached," said Adams.

The IOC provides almost 200,000 U.S. dollars to SportAccord annually to help fund anti-doping programs for federations and other functions.

"The International Olympic Committee will continue its ongoing and direct relationship with the International Federations," said Adams. "We encourage and support them in all the initiatives being taken to restructure their representation following the serious internal problems of SportAccord."

"We would like to invite the representatives of different groups to further discuss this issue and to come to an agreement among all stakeholders," he added.

In the meantime, the IOC promised to continue to offer "all the services and advice in the fight against doping which so far has been offered by SportAccord and financed by the IOC and WADA". Endi