ADVERTISEMENTA blistering attack on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was justified, according to a public poll.
Marius Vizer, president of SportsAccord, an umbrella body of around 100 smaller federations, last month accused the IOC of being “expired, outdated and not at all transparent”.
His comments have received overwhelming support in a survey on www.insidethegames.biz, a specialist Olympics website, with more than 90 percent, at the time of writing, saying they were justified.
But that’s likely to be little consolation to Vizer, who has seen federations leave SportsAccord since his outburst.
More than a dozen federations – including athletics, boxing, archery and taekwondo – have departed saying Vizer’s views do not represent them.
Vizer, speaking to Reuters, said the IOC was putting pressure on federations to withdraw membership of his organisation.
He said: “I had expected more solidarity from international federations, specifically from summer Olympics federations, because I spoke out in the favour of the sport.”
Vizer has since written to the IOC chief Thomas Bach asking for clear-the-air talks.
His criticism of the IOC centered around giving more power to the federations, saying it was heading for “destruction” otherwise.
He accused the IOC of blocking federations’ plans for other sports event and excluding key figures from voting on Olympic host cities.