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THE
Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) will include two
former Olympians to its executive board to comply with
an International Olympic Committee (IOC) directive.
The male
and female Olympians, however, must have competed in
successive Games, meaning they should have been to
Sydney
in 2000 and Athens in 2004.
Thus,
only the national sports associations (NSAs) of
athletics, boxing, swimming, taekwondo, rowing and
archery would have additional representations to the POC
board, which currently has 12 members.
Furthermore, the POC, according to deputy secretary
general Mark Joseph, also the president of the swimming
association, intends to include the past president of
the committee to the executive board, thus, increasing
its composition to a maximum of 15.
Under
this amendment, Celso Dayrit of fencing would have a
seat in the executive board. Dayrit, interestingly, has
announced his intention to run for president in this
November’s quadrennial POC elections.
“We
approved an amended constitution that we feel is
compliant with the IOC,’’ said POC president Jose
Cojuangco Jr. after the body had a special meeting
Tuesday at the Milkyway Bar in Makati City. “It’s an
achievement because we don’t have a constitution
endorsed and approved by the IOC over the years.’’
The two
Olympians, Cojuangco explained, would have voting
powers.
The
other members of the 39-NSA POC, however, were
uncomfortable with the addition of the two Olympians
because they were not able to send even an athlete to
the past two Games.
The IOC
has 210 member-countries but the Philippines is one of
20 whose constitution and bylaws are not approved by the
IOC.
Cojuangco said the amended POC constitution and by-laws
would immediately be submitted to the Securities and
Exchange Commission (SEC) and IOC for approval. |
