Page 39 - THE INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE’S ACCOUNTABILITY FOR HARMFUL CONSEQUENCES OF THE OLYMPIC GAMES- A MULTI-METHOD INTERNATIONAL LEGAL ANALYSIS Ryan Gautier

Chapter Two – Global Governance and Legitimacy
elite/professional sport.26 Much of the Olympic Movement is comprised of rule-setting organisations. For instance, the IFs for each sport set the ‘rules of the game’, but also enact rules regarding athlete eligibility (e.g., who can participate in a competition based on age, nationality, sex). The WADA is another actor, setting technical standards regarding anti- doping measures. Similar to many domestic administrative bodies, review or dispute- resolution mechanisms, whether within the IFs themselves (e.g., FIFA’s Dispute Resolution Chamber), or the CAS, aid these various rule-making actors in carrying out their work and holding them accountable. As the head of the Olympic Movement, the IOC is similarly engaged in the governance of sport.
More importantly for this thesis, the organising of the Olympic Games can also be seen as an exercise of global governance authority. The IOC is the rights-holder to the Olympic Games, and awards the right to host the Games to cities that meet various requirements set out by the IOC. The IOC uses an internal procedure, set forth in the Olympic Charter, and described in detail in Chapter Five, to select the host of the Olympic Games. This procedure is neither legislative, nor judicial in nature. Instead it can be understood as a rule-making (and application) procedure, in other words, an administrative procedure.
The Olympic Charter sets out the broad outline of the host selection process, while further steps in the host selection process detail the requirements of hosting the Games. For instance, the IOC requires hosts to implement stringent intellectual property/anti-ambush marketing laws,27 or to guarantee that the various levels of government will make up for any financial shortfall of the Games.28 After the Host City is awarded the right to host the Games, the host country duly passes laws to support the Games.29 Some countries attempt to get ahead of the curve by passing relevant legislation in advance of even bidding to host the Games, to demonstrate how compliant with IOC rules and regulations they will be. For
26 The Olympic Movement’s governance is not universal in scope. For instance, North American professional leagues for baseball, basketball, and ice hockey do not operate under the IFs that are part of the Olympic Movement, while professional golf is also organized largely outside of its IF. However, universality of application is not a requirement of global governance.
27 See, e.g., International Olympic Committee, 2022 Candidature Procedure and Questionnaire: XXIV Olympic Winter Games (2014) 76–77.
28 ibid 83.
29 See, e.g., London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Act 2006, c.12 (U.K.).
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