The largest ever ANOC General Assembly held in Prague bringing together over 1,300 delegates from across the Olympic Movement including 205 NOCs, the IOC, IFs and OCOGs.
The General Assembly was opened by ANOC President Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah before Czech Deputy Foreign Minister Ivo Šrámek and Czech Olympic Committee President Jiri Kejval took to the floor to welcome the delegates to Prague.
During a productive first day of the General Assembly, reports were heard from ANOC Secretary General Gunilla Lindberg as well as each of the Continental Associations. Julio Maglione was also appointed as ANOC senior vice-president. The new logo and event concept for the inaugural ANOC World Beach Games San Diego 2019 have been unveiled.
Every NOC will be invited to participate in the inaugural edition, with ANOC optimistic of strong representation from every Olympic continent. The sports programme currently comprises 17 disciplines in 15 sports, all selected for their appeal to youth audiences. The final configuration will be subject to ongoing negotiations.
The ANOC World Beach Games San Diego 2019 will take place in temporary venues at a single consolidated site at Mission Beach, San Diego. It is anticipated that approximately 1,300 athletes will compete across six days of competition.
The ANOC General Assembly agreed the following resolutions:
• ANOC congratulates the Czech Olympic Committee and its President Jiri Kejval for the excellent organisation of the ANOC meeting.
• ANOC fully endorses the appointment of Julio Maglione as ANOC’s Senior Vice President.
• ANOC ratifies the support for the ANOC President shown by the ANOC Executive Council.
• ANOC congratulates the IOC and its President Thomas Bach for the progress that has been made with Olympic Agenda 2020.
• ANOC reiterates its support for the conclusions reached during the Olympic Summit.
• ANOC strongly supports PyeongChang 2018 and confirms the strong participation of NOCs in the Olympic Winter Games. ANOC reinforces the IOC in applauding the PyeongChang 2018 Organising Committee for the progress made and expresses its confidence that PyeongChang 2018 will be a safe and secure Games.
• Protecting clean athletes continues to be a top priority for ANOC. ANOC expresses its full confidence in the ongoing investigations by the Schmid and Oswald Commissions, and for the procedure established by the IOC Executive Board. It welcomes the intention of the IOC Executive Board to take a decision in December with regard to the participation of Russian athletes in the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018.
• ANOC considers it unacceptable that specific sanctions are already being demanded in the public domain before these two Commissions have even completed their work and before due process, to which any individual and organisation is entitled, has been followed. This includes, in particular, calls by some for a resolution by WADA for a blanket ban of all Russian Athletes for the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018, because this would be an infringement of the WADA code. ANOC also emphasised that National Anti-Doping Organisations (NADOs) are service organisations and should not be engaged in making political statements.
• The General Assembly fully supports the progress in the setting up of the Independent Testing Authority (ITA) and calls for ANOC and the Continental Associations to join the ITA as Major Event Organisers (MEOs) to ensure the protection of clean athletes.
• ANOC reiterates its commitment to implementing the highest standards of good governance and ratified the ANOC Legal Commission’s proposed changes to the ANOC Constitution and proposal to create an ANOC Independent Ethics Commission. ANOC endorsed an outreach programme that it is hoped will assist NOCs in understanding and working within the ethics landscape in sport.
• ANOC supports the IOC toolkit for the Olympic Movement to safeguard athletes from harassment and abuse in sport as was presented by HRH Prince Feisal Al-Hussein of Jordan during the XXII ANOC General Assembly. The toolkit has been established in cooperation between the IOC, athletes, ANOC, ASOIF and AIOWF. ANOC strongly encourages all NOCs to use the toolkit to implement effective policies and procedures.
• ANOC applauds the progress made on the ANOC World Beach Games in creating a sustainable, cost efficient concept, in partnership with San Diego 2019 and the IF family, which will benefit the Olympic Movement. ANOC approves the continued discussions on the event with the IOC and GAISF.
• ANOC agrees to enhance cooperation between NOCs and university sport following an MoU signing with the International University Sports Federation (FISU).
