Held at least once a year, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session is the general meeting of the members of the IOC.[1] The main prerogatives of the IOC Session include: electing the host city of the Olympic Games, the IOC president, vice-presidents and other members of the executive board; deciding whether to include or exclude an Olympic sport; and approving the reports and accounts of the IOC.[2]
The 117th IOC Session was held in Singapore, at the Raffles City Convention Centre from 2 to 9 July 2005.[3] Singapore had won the right to host the session when it beat the only other bidder, Guatemala City, by eight votes during the 114th IOC Session held three years earlier in Mexico City.[4] The highlights of the 117th IOC Session were the election of the host city for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games and the review of the 28 Summer Olympic sports.[5]
Nine cities had initially applied for the right to host the 2012 Summer Olympic Games.[6] Five out of the nine cities – Paris (France), New York (United States), Moscow (Russia), London (Great Britain) and Madrid (Spain) – were eventually shortlisted by the IOC executive board to appear before the 117th IOC Session in Singapore for the final selection.[7] The rejected cities were Havana (Cuba), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Istanbul (Turkey) and Leipzig (Germany).[8]
On 6 July 2005, the five candidate cities made their final presentations to the 117th IOC Session.Each candidate city was given a maximum of 45 minutes to make their presentations, which were presented by the city’s delegation of six official delegates, four advisers and the IOC members of the country in which the city resided.[9] Furthermore, each city’s bid was bolstered by the presence of its political leaders and sports personalities, who had descended on Singapore to personally lobby for their city.[10]
Following the presentations by the candidate cities, the IOC members voted by secret ballot to choose the winning bid. After four rounds of voting, London was eventually elected by the 117th IOC Session as the host city for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games.[11]
On 8 July 2005, a review of the 28 Summer Olympic sports was conducted during the 117th IOC Session.IOC members voted on every sport, with each sport requiring at least a 51-percent majority to remain in the Olympic programme.[12] Baseball and softball were subsequently voted out.[13]
During the session, IOC members also voted on five new sports – rugby sevens, golf, karate, roller sports and squash – that were vying to become Olympic sports.However, none of the five sports garnered the two-thirds majority required to be included in the Olympic programme.As a result, the number of sports in the programme for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games was reduced to 26.[14]
On 9 July 2005, Ng Ser Miang, Singapore’s IOC member, was elected into the IOC executive board.[15]
Singapore benefitted from hosting the 117th IOC Session in July 2005. Later that month, Mohd Maliki Osman, then parliamentary secretary for health and community development, youth and sports, announced in parliament that the IOC session had helped put Singapore on the world sporting map.[16] According to Maliki, “The IOC Session provided a unique platform to position Singapore as a compelling international hub for international sporting federations and sports-related companies”. Moreover, Singapore earned about S$40 million in spin-offs, including S$19 million in tourism receipts. The event was a good return on investment, as the cost of organising it was only S$7 million.[17]
References
1. International Olympic Committee. (2013, November 29). Factsheet: The IOC Sessions (p. 1). Lausanne: International Olympic Committee. Retrieved December 29, 2014, from Olympic.org website: http://www.olympic.org/Documents/Reference_documents_Factsheets/IOC_Session.pdf
2. International Olympic Committee, 29 Nov 2013, p. 1.
3. The big event. (2005, July 19). The Straits Times, p. 4. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
4. International Olympic Committee, 29 Nov 2013, p. 3; Chia, H. K. (2002, November 30). 2012 host to be decided in Singapore. The Straits Times, p. 25. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
5. Highlights of the 117th IOC Session. (2005, May 6). Today, p. 73. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
6. London and Paris lead bid to host 2012 Olympics. (2004, January 16). Today, p. 68. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
7. Lim, M. (2004, May 19). 2012 Olympics. The Straits Times, p. 3. Retrieved from NewspaperSG; International Olympic Committee. (2010, April 10). Bid procedure for the Games of the Olympiad of 2012 (pp. 2–3). Lausanne: International Olympic Committee. Retrieved December 29, 2014, from Olympic.org website: http://www.olympic.org/Assets/OSC%20Section/pdf/QR_8E.pdf
8. The Straits Times, 19 May 2004, p. 3.
9. International Olympic Committee, 10 Apr 2010, p. 3.
10. Tony Blair’s mad dash to Singapore. (2005, May 27). The Straits Times, p. 34; Peh, S. H. (2005, July 5). Star power. The Straits Times, p. 1. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
11. International Olympic Committee, 10 Apr 2010, p. 4; Shankari, U. (2005, July 7). How the Olympics was won. The Business Times, p. 2. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
12. The battle to stay in the games. (2005, July 8). Today, p. 70. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
13. Lim, T. (2005, July 9). Down, but they’ll give it another try. The Straits Times, p. 18. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
14. The Straits Times, 9 Jul 2005, p. 18.
15. Ser Miang vying for IOC executive board. (2005, July 9). The Straits Times, p. 19; Lim, M. (2005, July 13). IOC Session: The stage almost collapsed. The Straits Times, p. 13. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
16. Lee, L. (2005, July 22). IOC Session benefited S’pore, parliament told. The Straits Times, p. 26. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
17. Hosting IOC Session earned S’pore $40m in spin-offs. (2005, July 22). Today, p. 8. Retrieved from NewspaperSG.
The information in this article is valid as at 2015 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.