Olympic Games: Pat Hickey is to become the new president of the European Olympic Committees (EOC), one of the most powerful positions in the Olympic movement. He will take up office at the end of July, and thus become the leading Irish figure in the administration of world sport.
Currently the EOC secretary general, Hickey was confirmed as the sole candidate for the vacant position when nominations closed at 5pm yesterday at the committees' offices in Rome. The outgoing president, Italy's Mario Pescante, announced his intention to step down earlier this month because of increasing commitments in Italian politics.
The presidency leaves Hickey in line to move up the ladder of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Jacques Rogge, the IOC president, held the EOC presidency from 1989 until 2001, and that ultimate position within the Olympic movement appears increasingly within the reach of Hickey.
As president of the EOC, Hickey is also in line to represent the World Olympic Committee, a position separate to the IOC presidency, and which would give him a seat on the 15-man IOC executive committee. He will for now continue in his role as president of the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI), a position he has held since 1989.
Speaking from Rome last night, Hickey described himself as "delighted and very honoured" to have secured the position.
"Mario Pescante had indicated he wanted to pass on the baton to me," explained Hickey, "but of course it had to done democratically. I was prepared to run with any challenge, and was prepared to do my homework, but thankfully there were no other candidates submitted on the deadline and I now go forward uncontested.
"The European Committee is the easily most powerful in the Olympic movement, such is the concentration of countries. Right now 70 per cent of the IOC executive members are European, and I think that reflects the position of Europe.
"Of course it's a great challenge as well, and I was delighted with the support I got to allow me to go forward unchallenged. It also puts me in the running for a place on the IOC executive, which is also exciting.
"But the timing of this is fantastic as well, with the London Olympics of 2012 coming on so fast. I know there's a lot of hype about the Ryder Cup at the moment, but I think people will soon realise afterwards that the Olympics coming to London is as close as we'll ever get to staging the Games, so obviously it will be a huge occasion. And because they're a European event I will very much be involved in what's going on in the build-up."
Hickey will formally take up office on July 29th when the EOC stage an egm to induct the new president. Pescante's decision to step down hadn't been widely expected, as he had only recently been re-elected for another term at the last EOC general assembly meeting in Dublin last December, when Hickey was again re-elected as secretary general. But Pescante was recently elected again to the Italian parliament and is now a candidate for mayor of Rome.
The EOC offices will remain in Italy, with Raffaele Pagnozzi - the secretary general of the Italian Olympic committee - set to take over Hickey's position within the EOC.
Hickey will now become closer to Rogge, who became the eighth president of the IOC in 2001, and moves closer to repeating the feat of another former president of the OCI, Lord Killanin, who went on to become IOC president from 1972 to 1980.
