In what it described as a "vital show" of financial transparency, the IOC on Thursday "disclosed how much its members receive in allowances and per diem payments" -- including an annual €225,000 ($242,000) sum for President Thomas Bach, according to the AP. The IOC ethics commission "urged all other sports organizations in the Olympic movement to follow suit and publish their payment policies," an appeal that will put pressure especially on FIFA and FIFA President Sepp Blatter. The IOC released its "indemnity policy" covering the reimbursements for Bach and other members as part of the "Olympic Agenda 2020" reforms passed in December. IOC presidents and members "are considered volunteers and do not receive a salary, but their travel, housing costs and other expenses on Olympic duty are covered." The IOC said that exec board members and commission chairs will receive $900 daily on Olympic business, "including the day before and after meetings to cover travel days." Regular IOC members will receive $450 a day "at meetings and at the Olympics." Members can also receive an annual sum of $7,000 for "administrative support," referring to office space and equipment required for IOC business in their home countries. The figure "does not include Bach's housing in Lausanne, Switzerland." The IOC decision to release the figures "contrasts with the secrecy of other bodies such as FIFA." IOC Ethics Commission Chair Youssoupha Ndiaye wrote, "The IOC ethics commission invites all the sports organizations of the Olympic movement to establish a similar policy and make this public, in order to increase transparency within the sports movement." The presidents of FIFA and UEFA do receive salaries, "but they have not been made public." Blatter, whose organization has been "dogged by financial and corruption scandals," said in the past that his annual salary was "perhaps a bit more" than $1M (AP, 4/2). REUTERS' Karolos Grohmann wrote under the policy, the IOC president, who does not get a salary, "will be compensated" with a flat annual amount to cover his expenses. The Ethics Commission said, "According to the obligations and rights attributed to him in the Olympic Charter, the IOC President has the function of an Executive President. Therefore, the President is on a mission for the IOC 365 days a year" (REUTERS, 4/2).
