LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) – International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach called for renewed efforts Tuesday to combat corruption and doping, saying recent scandals are undermining the credibility of sports and unfairly casting suspicion on millions of clean athletes.
Bach called on all sports organizations to follow rules of “good governance” to prevent the type of corruption cases that have rocked the global governing bodies of soccer and track and field.
In an op-ed piece published in several newspapers around the world, Bach did not specifically name the scandals enveloping FIFA, the IAAF and Russia’s track and field program, but the references were clear and unmistakable.
His comments came as the IOC executive board discussed issues of ethics and governance on the first day of a three-day meeting in Lausanne.
“As an Olympic medalist, recent developments in some sports are particularly upsetting,” said Bach, a former fencer. “What saddens me most as a former athlete is that they erode the trust in the clean athlete.”