Filler TO: The Delegates Filler FROM: The International Sports Foundation Filler DATE: April 3, 2000

Below are the issues that will be addressed at "From Greece to Globalism: The Olympics in the 21st Century." While there are specific issues listed under each committee, please note that it will be necessary to confer with at least one, if not more, of the other committees in making final recommendations. We are looking forward to your deliberations. ISSUES Committee on the 2008 Site What are the deciding factors in determining the site for the 2008 Games? The Committee is asked to evaluate the bids proposed by the competing cities and determine which city will host the 2008 Summer Olympics. With the controversy over Salt Lake city and bribing, the IOC's policy on site selection has been called into question. The IOC recently announced reforms in this process, but still retains complete control over the games. And the IOC Executive Committee has recently asserted that perhaps the best protection against future corruption is to limit the decisionmakers to the Executive Committee. This Committee is asked to develop new procedures for the selection of hosts for the Olympic Games in the 21st century. What are the political, historical, economic, and social factors that the IOC must consider? Should other international parties, such as the media, FIFA, TOP, etc., have any input? With Beijing's recently rejected bid for the 2000 games and its new bid for the 2008 games, human rights have been at the forefront of the news about the site selection process. The committee is asked to design a policy for site selection that reflects this concern. Stadiums and event houses are very important components of the Games. Athens was not awarded the anniversary games because of its lack of facilities. Given the disparity of wealth among nations, and considering the fact that the Games have yet to be hosted in a developing country, the Committee is asked to propose a policy on site selection that would provide countries with limited financial avenues the ability to host the games. Committee on National Participation Should international politics determine inclusion in the Olympic Games? The Committee is asked to develop a set of guidelines for national participation. What social, political, and human rights factors should be taken into consideration? Are boycotts appropriate for use as a political tool in the Olympics? Should nations use boycotts to try and force another country to change its domestic or foreign policies? Should nations which boycott be punished? What are the effects on athletes? The Committee is asked to recommend a policy for contending with Olympic boycotts. Should the Olympics be open to every country regardless of finances? Should the International Olympic Committee, or other countries, provide assistance to poorer countries? The Committee is asked to develop an action plan with the goal of allowing the most qualified athletes to train and compete regardless of the economic prosperity of their countries. How should breakaway regions or divided nations be represented in the Olympic Games? Taiwan and China, for example, confronted this issue in the 1976 Olympics as each sought to compete as the "real" China. The Committee is asked to design guidelines on this issue, particularly important now with the ongoing conflicts within countries, such as those of the Former Soviet Union. Committee on Business and Commercialization The Olympic Games generate an enormous amount of money, from corporate sponsorship to television rights. How this money is used and distributed has recently come into question. How should the net profits from the Games be used and distributed? Does any country, organization, or group have a right to that money? Should the athletes, the majority of who are "amateurs" and will never earn a livelihood at their sport, be given a portion of the money? Should the host city and/or the host country profit from the Games given the effort they have expended? Should the money be reserved for athlete training? Should the money be given to developing countries who are eager to host a future Olympic Games? Who should determine the distribution of the funds? The Committee is asked to recommend a distribution process for the profit of the Games. The Olympic Games over the last two decades have become very media dependent, and, some would argue, media-driven. The prices to broadcast the Games have skyrocketed, benefitting host cities and the International Olympics Movement. These international broadcasts also bring the Games into the lives of more than two billion people, acting potentially as one of the most global unifying forces providing a uniquely shared experience over two weeks every four years. The Committee is asked to consider the relationship between the media and the Olympics and determine a media policy for the 21st century. The delegates are asked to take into account both the positive and negative aspects of the medium, as well as how scheduling is affected and what sports and/or athletes may be highlighted to the detriment of others. As corporate sponsorship of all sports has grown exponentially, the Olympics have not remained unaffected. The International Olympic Committee organized The Olympic Programme (TOP) to contend with and control corporate sponsorship. Have the Olympics become too commercialized or has corporate sponsorship allowed more athletes to compete and more sports to be featured than ever before? If there was no corporate sponsorship, would the Games survive? Would cities be willing to host them? Where should funding for the Games come from? Should the sponsors of the games reflect the composition of the countries participating in the games? The Committee is asked to assess and evaluate TOP and recommend a plan for sponsorship for the next 25 years. Committee on Medical Ethics and Doping The IOC has recently organized the World Anti-Doping Agency to deal with the issue of doping in the Olympic Games. What should the International Olympic Committee's role be in setting the standards of doping in the Olympics? How should they determine what substances and training procedures are permissible and impermissible? The Committee is asked to determine is there should be an international standard for doping that applies to all participating Olympic athletes, or if each country should determine the standards for its own athletes? These guidelines should include enforcement recommendations and procedures as well. In the last winter Olympics, a Canadian snowboarder had his Gold medal revoked because of his recreational use of marijuana. After much debate, the medal was returned. The Committee is asked to design a policy on recreational and non-performance enhancing drugs, including maintenance drugs like Prozac and insulin. Olympic athletes have to undergo drug tests. The Committee is asked to consider if athletes should be allowed to refuse testing on the grounds of privacy, religion, or any other reasons. How should athletes be punished for violating doping rules? Should their infractions be made public? Should these athletes be denied or revoked sponsorships with organizations and corporations? Should NOC's be punished for the behavior or their athletes? The Committee is asked to design penalties for testing positive to IOC administered drug tests. With the advent of modern medicine, doping has increasingly become a problem for athletes in the Olympics. From East Germany to China to the United States, science has increasingly affected the Olympic athletes' training and raised the bar for performance. Coaches, spectators, and sponsors demand records to be broken and performance to increase. What are the limits to the amount of help athletes can receive from modern medicine? The Committee is asked to recommend guidelines for the use of performance enhancing drugs as modern science advancement continues. Committee on the Future of the International Olympic Movement The International Olympic Committee has not drastically altered its structure since its inception, and the Olympic Games have grown and enjoyed great success over the last century. However, recent concerns about representation, inclusion, and "the old boys network" have been raised. Does the IOC need to change in order to lead the International Olympic Movement in the 21st century? The Committee is asked to make specific recommendations of how the IOC should be structured. Please include the following issues in your presentation: representation, term limits, the process by which the President and Executive Committee members are determined, and oversight of the IOC. Over its 100+ year history, the Olympic Games have added dozens of new sports. Questions of dilution have now arisen and the IOC is considering reducing the number of sports in the summer games by 20. The Committee is asked to consider what the criteria should be for the inclusion or exclusion of sports. The Committee should also take into consideration the growing popularity of extreme sports. Please advise what sports should be offered in the 2008 summer games and the 2010 winter games. As the Olympic Games move into the 21st century, are Pierre de Coubertin's original ideals being upheld? Should the Olympics follow the ideals set forth in the Olympic Charter more closely? Are modern influences, such as new technology, the media, and the surge in sponsorship, a positive or negative addition to the Games? The Committee is asked to evaluate the modern Olympic Games in relation to the Olympic Charter and design a plan for the 21st century. Committee on Corrupt Practices It has recently been exposed that corrupt practices have been a prevalent part of how the International Olympic Committee and its members have conducted business. This affects IOC members, host cities, bid cities, and potential Olympic sponsors. What reforms does the Committee recommend to control corruption and bring integrity back to the games? Please be specific in your reforms. How should the International Olympic Committee be held accountable? What should be the role of national and international courts? What are, and should be, the avenues of redress for countries, organizations, or sponsors who believe they have been cheated? Should an oversight organization be created? The Committee is asked to recommend who or what should police the IOC and hold it accountable. Given the enormous benefits that cities and countries can reap from hosting the Olympic Games, there is a high level of corruption in the bid process, what penalties, if any, should be instituted against the IOC, its individual members, and/or bid cities that engage in bribery and fraud? The Committee is asked to recommend what action can and should be taken against the participants in the bid process for the 1996, 2000, and 2002 games. Committee on Athletes' Rights Athletes, while the most numerous participants of the Games, are also often the least well represented. Given the broad range of policy debates -- from drug policies to national policies -- that can affect whether and how an athlete competes, the Committee is asked to design an Athletes Bill of Rights for the International Olympic Games. This should take into consideration how athletes are chosen to compete; issues of privacy; drug policies; access to funding; citizenship; amateur vs. professional status; the distribution of net profits from the Games; individual, national and Olympic corporate sponsorship; and the media. Avery Brundage prided himself on keeping the Olympics an amateur event, disallowing the payment of athletes. Today, things have greatly changed and professional athletes are now participating in the Olympics because of a ruling that gave each International Sport Federation the right to determine amateur status. This has allowed the U.S. "dream team" of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, but, many argue, has also raised the bar for athletes and improved athletic competition. The Committee is asked to re-visit the debate of amateur vs. Professional competitor in the Olympic Games and recommend a policy for the next century. Does this affect the "spirit" of the Games as they were initially envisioned? Does the participation of professional athletes reflect the reality of the times as well as allow athletes to make a livelihood from their vocation? The growing "medal race" has brought significant changes in the make-up of each nation's Olympic team. Recently, the United States naturalized a men's soccer player two days before an international event, making it possible for him to claim a spot in the starting line-up. Other nations are following this trend and naturalizing immigrants through marriage, distant relatives, and other sometimes spectacular measures. The Committee is asked to consider the issues of athletes' citizenship and migration and the "stacking" of teams and events and devise a policy.