Sport would have a 'very bright future' if the IOC was held up as gold standard model, claims president Thomas Bach

• e-mail

The International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach has called on other major sporting organisations to follow its lead in the fight against corruption and doping.

Bach believes the 'good governance measures' and 'zero-tolerance policies' adopted by the IOC - following its own controversies of the 1990s - can help to clean up the reputation of sports around the world following unsavoury recent events.

FIFA and the IAAF have been racked by allegations of corruption in recent months while Russia has been implicated in one of athletics' biggest ever doping scandals.

Thomas Bach has called on major sporting organisations to follow lead in fight against corruption and doping

In an op-ed piece to newspapers around the world - and on the opening day of the IOC executive board's meeting in Lausanne - Bach said sport had a 'very bright future' if the IOC was held up as the gold standard model.

Chief amongst the IOC's recent moves for accountability have been to request for the World Anti-Doping Authority (WADA) to take over its testing programme while there is a proposal for the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to take over their sanctioning of athletes.

'The IOC has had the necessary measures in place for a long time,' Bach wrote.

'More recently, the reforms passed in Olympic Agenda 2020 one year ago, ensure internationally recognised standards of governance.

'As a result, all our accounts are audited at a higher international financial reporting standard and we are publishing everything in our annual report, as is common practice in the corporate world; we have term and age limits for all IOC members; and we have a chief ethics and compliance officer, an audit committee and an independent ethics commission.

'We have called on and we expect all sports organisations to follow this route. All these measures and others, which are publicly available, allow the IOC to distribute more than 90% of our revenue - that is 3.25 million each and every day - back to athletes and world sport.

'The recent discussions on these issues show the huge significance sport has in our society.

'Sport has the power to make the world a better place. If these good governance measures are adopted and the zero-tolerance policies are followed by all sport organisations, there is a very bright future for sport.'

Bach: 'good governance measures' and 'zero-tolerance policies' adopted by the IOC can help to clean up 

The world of athletics was rocked last month when a WADA investigation revealed 'state sponsored' doping on a wide scale in Russia.

The independent commission's chairman Richard Pound said Russia should be banned from next year's Olympic Games in Rio while WADA president Sir Craig Reedie is set to address the IOC executive board about the matter this week.

While Bach has since said he expects Russia will comply with doping regulations in time for its athletes to compete at next year's Games, he reiterated the importance of governmental controls.

'Zero tolerance also means all nations and all sports have to be compliant with WADA's rules,' he said.

'On this front, sport requires the support of governments. Let us not forget that governments have a 50% stake in WADA.

'Governments need to make sure that their national anti-doping authorities are WADA-compliant.

'Governments also have to ensure dealers, corrupt doctors and coaches are punished with the full force of the law.'

Bach said he expects Russia will comply with doping regulations in time for athletes to compete 2016 Games

This week's three-day meeting in Lausanne is, however, set to be dominated by concerns over the finances and preparations for the Rio 2016 Games.

Brazil is facing a financial crisis while several international federations have told the IOC they have serious concerns - including over the quality of the water in the sea and the rowing lake in Rio.

Last month, 13 of the 40-strong United States rowing team came down with a stomach illness at the world junior championships in Rio - a test event for next summer's Olympics - with the team doctor expressing suspicions it was due to pollution in the lagoon where the competition took place.

British rowers competing in Rio in the summer were warned not to splash the water or jump in at the end of races, or to swim in the sea during free time.

A German sailor, Erik Heil, was treated in hospital for the flesh-eating bacteria MRSA shortly after sailing in a test event in Rio's Guanabara Bay in August.

The financial climate is also a problem for Brazil with the value of its currency - the real - dropping significantly which has impacted on its Olympic-related spending in foreign markets.

Cuts to the Olympic programme are likely - and meanwhile Brazil's president Dilma Rousseff is also facing impeachment by opposition politicians for allegedly breaching public finance laws.