Page 32 - THE INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE’S ACCOUNTABILITY FOR HARMFUL CONSEQUENCES OF THE OLYMPIC GAMES- A MULTI-METHOD INTERNATIONAL LEGAL ANALYSIS Ryan Gautier

Chapter One – Introduction
for the uninitiated. The role of other organisations and state governments is also considered. How this constellation of actors creates problems in establishing accountability is discussed, setting the stage for further analysis in Chapter Six. Chapter Four sets out the worst outcomes of the Olympic Games, and how those might affect the substantive legitimacy of the IOC and the Olympic Games. This chapter examines recent and contemporary editions of the Games, revealing problems such as abuses of labour rights, displacement of persons, and environmental damage. This chapter also sets out the particular problems created as the Olympic Games and other sporting mega-events are increasingly held in countries with poor records on human rights protection and accountability to their people. Chapter Five examines the process used to select the host of the Olympic Games, assessing the procedural legitimacy of the IOC and the Olympic Games. This chapter also marks the beginning of the shift of the thesis from examining legitimacy to examining accountability.
Chapter Six uses the aforementioned principal-agent framework to analyse the accountability of the various actors involved in organising the Olympic Games. Given the multiplicity of actors involved in the Olympic Games, this chapter asks the question: how does the IOC maintain control over the implementation of the Games? Attention will be paid to the mandate that the IOC provides, the monitoring it undertakes, and the consequences it imposes when the Games are not executed in an appropriate manner. How these mechanisms might be applied to avoid the worst outcomes of the Olympic Games is then considered. Chapter Seven then turns its focus to the IOC, examining a situation where, even in the presence of a mandate of human rights protection (which is not necessarily the case), the IOC still fails to ensure that human rights are respected. This chapter undertakes a comparative legal analysis with the World Bank, as the Bank had this precise problem thirty years ago. Comparing these two global administrative actors brings out similarities and differences that may provide options for the IOC to improve its accountability.
This thesis concludes with a series of reflections. Importantly, a reflection on the theories and methodologies used is required, given their novelty in being applied to the IOC. Avenues for further research are also suggested.
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