April 3, 2014
April 1 - Singapore's Ser Miang Ng has been appointed to head the powerful International Olympic Committee (IOC) Finance Commission by Thomas Bach, the man who beat him to the Presidency of the organisation last year.
The 65-year-old businessman and politician replaces Richard Carrión, chairman and chief executive of the Popular, Inc., parent company of Banco Popular de Puerto Rico.
Carrión had announced he would step down last year after he was also beaten by Bach in the IOC elections at the Session in Buenos Aires.
As chairman of the IOC's Finance Commission and a prominent member of its Marketing Commission, Carrión, 60, was a key figure in the building up of the IOC's financial reserves over recent years, and in driving up income received from broadcasting rights, the Movement's most lucrative revenue stream.
Ng's team also includes Dutchman Camiel Eurlings, the President and chief executive of the airline KLM who was elected as a new member only last September.
There is also a significant change at the head of the Marketing Commission where Japan's Tsunekazu Takeda has been appointed to replace Norway's Gerhard Heiberg, who is also taking a back seat in the IOC following Bach's election.
Takeda, the great grandson of Emperor Meiji, is a former show jumper who represented Japan at the Munich 1972 and Montreal 1976.
He is President of the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) and played a crucial part in Tokyo's successful bid for the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics.
In his new role he will oversee the IOC's multi-million dollar sponsorship programme and also monitor the domestic sponsorship programme of the host cities.
Takeda will have a tough act to follow in Heiberg, who headed the Commission for 13 years and is credited with helping push the IOC's total sponsorship revenue to a record $1 billion (£636 million/€755 million)-plus in the 2013-2016 quadrennium.
There are also positions on the Commission for Turkish businessman Hasan Arat, who led Istanbul's unsuccessful bid to host the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics, and Scott Blackmun, chief executive of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC).
The fresh compositions of all the various Commissions, announced this evening, were the first under Bach since his election.
Among other changes is the appointment of USOC President Larry Probst to head the Press Commission in place of long-time Australian member Kevan Gosper, who has reached the mandatory retirement age of 80.
That is an increase in female members - 23 per cent - and a much broader geographical representation, the IOC claimed following the announcement of the Commissions.
There will now be two more Commissions chaired by women and 22 more positions held by women in 2014 than in 2013.
They include Britain's Princess Royal, who has been an IOC member since 1988 but has been appointed to only her second Commission.
She has been chosen to head the Nominations Commission that puts forward candidates for membership to the IOC.
Her Commission includes former Swedish high jumper Stefan Holm and FINA Pesident Julio Maglione of Uruguay.There is also a promotion for Burundi's Lydia Nsekera, who has been chosen to replace American Anita DeFrantz as the new chair of the Women and Sport Commission.
Bach has kept the Television and New Media Rights commission under his auspices and he himself will head the eight-member group, which also includes Jordan's Prince Faisal, Australian Olympic Committee President John Coates and Ottavio Cinquanta, head of the International Skating Union.
Bach was a senior negotiator for television rights contracts under his predecessor Jacques Rogge.
© Baseball Federation of Asia. All RIGHTS RESERVED. / PRIVACY POLICY
