Lausanne (AFP)

The President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Thomas Bach ran for re-election in 2021 on Friday, admitting that there was today no clear "solution" for the Tokyo Games in 2021, so that the Olympic movement has been hit hard by the coronavirus.

At the opening of the 136th IOC session, held by videoconference, the German Thomas Bach (66 years old), elected in 2013 for eight years, indicated his willingness to continue to lead the Olympics by presenting the next year for a second term reduced by half (the presidents are elected for an eight-year term, renewable once for four years).

"If you IOC members want, I am ready for a second term as President of the IOC to continue serving you and the Olympic movement we love so much for four more years," said Thomas Bach to the members. of the mighty institution.

His re-election in the spring of 2021 (a second IOC session will take place during the Games) should not be disputed, despite some internal criticism of his management style, sometimes considered authoritarian.

The relatively lonely Canadian Dick Pound is the only official opposition and the German benefits from the co-optation system of IOC members: approximately half (55) of the electors of the future president have joined the IOC since 2014, who can feel grateful towards their president.

Ninth IOC President Thomas Bach was Olympic foil team champion at the Montreal (Canada) Games in 1976. He began his involvement in sports policy by becoming a spokesperson for athletes from West Germany in order to compete the 1980 Moscow Games, finally boycotted by his country to protest against the military intervention of the USSR in Afghanistan in December 1979.

- 'An important step' -

Thomas Bach's mandate, which has so far been little disputed, has been turned upside down for several months, as has all of international sport by the pandemic of new coronavirus.

The health crisis has already forced the IOC to postpone the Tokyo Games from summer 2020 to summer 2021, a first in peacetime. While the pandemic is not weakening (at least 590,000 deaths and 13.8 million cases according to an AFP count at 12h00 GMT Friday), it now threatens the great mass of world sport even in 2021.

"No one knows what the world will look like next July and August. This is why we have to prepare for several scenarios (...) the priority remains the health of all participants," said Thomas Bach.

"There is no solution today," he then admitted at a press conference about the vagueness that reigns over the world health situation.

Asked about an OG scenario without spectators, Thomas Bach replied that it was "one of the scenarios that we have to imagine (...) but it's not what we want. We want stadiums full of fans enthusiastic. "

"These Olympic Games can be a milestone for the whole world," he added.

The Japanese organizing committee took advantage of the IOC session to take stock of its preparations and announced that the "anti-covid measures" plan will begin in the fall, with attention paid to the conditions of entry into the territory, transport and accommodation for the thousands of participants and followers of the Games.

The organizers also indicated that they had been able to reserve all the sites initially planned for the summer of 2021, including the Olympic village, and that the sports program would thus remain unchanged.

- Coe new member of the IOC -

The IOC also approved the candidacy of Briton Sebastian Coe, president of the International Athletics Federation, on Friday, after being held back by a potential conflict of interest as the head of a sports consultancy, CSM .

The double Olympic champion of 1,500m changed his status within the company, from operational to non-operational manager, and his candidacy was largely approved (77 votes for, 8 against, 6 abstentions).

Four other new IOC members were welcomed on Friday: Princess Reema Bandar Al-Saud of Saudi Arabia, the Cuban Maria de la Caridad Colon Ruenes, Olympic champion in the javelin throw in 1980, the Croatian Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, President of the Republic of Croatia from 2015 to 2020 and the Mongolian Battushig Batbold.

The election of the new members of the Athletes' Commission, which is to take place during the Games, has been postponed to 2021, extending the term of the current president of the Paris-2024 Games organizing committee by Tony Estanguet by one year. .

© 2020 AFP