IOC President Thomas Bach appointed new leaders for 14 of the organization's 30 commissions, including key positions overseeing the marketing, press and finance commissions. Japanese Olympic Committee President Tsunekazu Takeda was named chair of the IOC’s marketing commission. The 66-year-old will take over responsibilities for the IOC’s billion dollar sponsorship program from Norway’s Gerhard Heiberg. USOC Chair Larry Probst was named chair of the IOC’s press commission. Australia’s Kevan Gosper formerly held that post. Probst has pushed the USOC to improve relations with the IOC since Chicago lost its bid in '09 to host the 2016 Olympics, and the new position as chair of the press commission is the latest evidence of strengthening ties between the organizations. Singapore’s Ser Miang Ng will take over the finance commission chairmanship from Puerto Rico’s Richard Carrion. Both men ran against Bach for IOC president last year. Carrion oversaw the IOC’s finance commission as its financial reserves swelled from $100M to $900M during former IOC President Jacques Rogge’s leadership ('01-13).
WORKING WITH MEDIA: Bach, who is interested in launching an Olympic network, named himself chair of the IOC’s TV and new media commission. Former IOC President Rogge previously held that post and divided responsibility for rights negotiations between Bach, who oversaw Europe, and Carrion, who oversaw the U.S. and other markets. Bach didn’t make clear who would take over responsibility for those negotiations in the future. New members of that committee, which is responsible for the bulk of IOC revenue, includes: Le Prince Feisal Al Hussein (Jordan); Habu Gumel (Nigeria); Juan Antonio Samaranch, Jr. (Spain); Gerardo Werthein (Argentina); and Zaiqing Yu (China). Ottavio Cinquanta (Italy) and John Coates (Australia) remain on the committee. Other new chairs include: Turkey’s Ugur Erdener (medical); Burundi’s Lydia Nsekera (women and sport); Britain’s Princess Anne (nominations); Belgium’s Baron Pierre-Olivier Beckers-Vieujant (audit); Australia’s John Coates (juridical, sport and law); Taiwan’s Ching Kuo-Wu (Olympic philately, numismatic and memorabilia commission); Argentina’s Gerardo Werthein (radio and television); and Monaco’s Prince Albert (sport and environment).
