Attempts to bend IOC age limit rules poor example for athletes and coaches

 Attempts to bend IOC age limit rules poor example for athletes and coaches

Rules are rules and any attempt to bend the International Olympic Committee(IOC) rules in respect of the mandatory retirement age of 80 sets a poor example for the youth of the Olympic movement and the athletes.

This was the response of Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee(TTOC) secretary general Brian Lewis when asked by ttoc.org for a comment in respect of news reports in the international media about the Association of National Olympic Committees(ANOC )resolution calling on the IOC to let the Mexican media magnate retain his spot on the IOC and its policy making executive board past the age of 80.

Lewis ,the TTOC representative at last week's ANOC General Assembly in Acapulco,Mexico. said  that the resolution  and its passing appeared to surprise  some delegates who seemed reluctant to  embarrass the ANOC leader in an open forum.
He however described the procedure  surrounding the passing of the resolution as "troubling "asserting that it will only serve to bring the credibility and good governance principles of the Olympic Movement into question and disrepute.

" Those who occupy the corridors of power in international sport  cannot on one hand be calling on the athletes and coaches to respect and obey the rules ,the Olympic Charter and principles of fair play while on the other hand support efforts to bend the rules.It is unfortunate .
To earn the respect and trust of the athletes and the youth of the world sport leaders  cannot act in a disingenuous and hypocritical  manner.If it is wrong be honest and say it is wrong even if it means going against popular sentiments.The Olympic Movement must stand for what is right not what is convenient no matter how well meaning or well intentioned. "

Lewis believes that the age limit rule came about during a very problematic period in the history of the Olympic movement( Salt Lake  City corruption  scandal) and it will be  a cruel irony if attempts to turn back the hands of time succeeds.
 78 year old Mario Vazquez Rana,  who has headed the Association of National Olympic Committees for 31 years, was re-elected last week to another four-year term.He will be 82 at the end of his next mandate. That would put him two years past the International Olympic Committee's mandatory retirement age of 80.

Vazquez Rana has a long record as a sports administrator. He has been president of the Mexican Olympic Committee since 1974, head of the Pan American Sports Organization since 1975 and president of the Association of National Olympic Committees since 1979.