GAISF Walk The Plank

The Global Association of International Sports Federations has had a chequered history but is quickly running out of road with plans to disband the body. As Geoff Berkeley reports, many see this as an IOC power grab.

Can the International Olympic Committee gain any more control in the world of sport?

This is a question Patrick Nally asks when discussing the potential dissolution of the long-established Global Association of International Sports Federations.

Nally, who is widely acknowledged as the founding father of sports marketing, has been involved in GAISF for almost 50 years, helping the umbrella body for Olympic and non-Olympic sports secure permanent headquarters in Monte Carlo in 1976.

But GAISF now faces the looming threat of liquidation in what is being considered as an attempted power grab by the IOC.

“Unfortunately, sport does attract people who want personal gain and empowerment which gets rather distracted from the real need to have sport managing itself in a better manner,” said Nally, who is head of the International Federation of Match Poker - an observer member of GAISF.

“If those that are currently managing it aren’t up for the job then let’s change them.

GEOFF BERKELEY SENIOR REPORTER, INSIDETHEGAMES

“It is not in the IOC’s interest for every single aspect of sport only going to their door as that means the need for them to make decisions on recognition and other things that have got nothing to do with the Olympics.

“It is going to put all sorts of pressure that they won’t want, so my message would be ‘stop, think again and don’t dissolve GAISF’.

“I think the IOC will suffer with the loss of GAISF, not benefit.”

After 55 years of acting as the gatekeeper to the Olympic Movement and the first port of call for International Federations wanting to gain formal recognition, GAISF could be shut down later this year.

GAISF President Ivo Ferriani, an IOC Executive Board member, has confirmed that an Extraordinary General Assembly will be called in September to decide on the dissolution of the organisation.

“Why close it?” said Nally. “It is absurd.

“There is a very distinct need and role for that organisation and if it has the right Board, it will manage itself very well and be collaborative with the IOC.”

Nally has a wealth of experience within the Olympic Movement, working with major governing bodies including the IOC and FIFA.

The British entrepreneur was responsible for bringing Coca-Cola into football and created a blueprint which sports marketing is based on to this day.

Nally understands the value of GAISF, viewing it as a “trade union for all sports”, and does not want to see the body go.

“GAISF does not get much credit but my goodness if it hadn’t been there many, many things that have all evolved would never have done so,” said Nally.

“The Olympic Movement would never have moved forward, and activities would never grow.

“GAISF is a very, very important and valuable body and if it is properly managed it should provide an invaluable service to sport as a whole.

“There is not any other entity that does that or can do that but unfortunately some of this has got lost in translation because people have tended to look at it politically.

“It’s all become manipulative with individuals wanting this and that.

“Because of the lack of understanding of what is going on there is a danger that this will be quietly slipped through without people really understanding the implications.

“The bulk of the International Federations are not being spoken to, none of them are being informed about the true motivation and what it is being replaced with.”

GAISF was founded in 1967 following a meeting involving 26 International Federations in Lausanne in Switzerland, with Australian William Berge Phillips named as its first President.

The move came amid mounting frustration among IFs at what they perceived as the IOC’s condescending attitude and failure to take many of their concerns seriously.

Two years after the formation of GAISF, Thomi Keller, head of the International Rowing Federation, took the helm.

During the Swiss official’s 17-year tenure, GAISF developed into a powerful defender of IF interests at a time when the IOC was much weaker than it is today.

His forceful leadership came at a crucial period when the commercialisation of elite sport via broadcasting rights and corporate sponsorship was beginning to get up a head of steam, but this provoked friction with the IOC.

South Korean Un Yong Kim, who eventually succeeded Keller as GAISF President, once said that his predecessor’s philosophy was that the IFs should be in charge of sport while the IOC is solely responsible for organising the Olympics.

However, the picture changed when Spaniard Juan Antonio Samaranch replaced Irishman Lord Killanin as IOC President in 1980.

Samaranch wanted both the Olympic Games and sport under his control and spotted a key weakness in GAISF’s armoury as he looked to reduce the body’s influence.

What the IOC had over GAISF was income from the Games through rising television broadcast deals that generated significant funds for Olympic IFs.

Samaranch created the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations and Association of International Olympic Winter Federations which proved to be the IOC’s weapons to cut GAISF down to size.

The 1980s also saw GAISF launch its own multi-sport event, called the World Games, in a bid to gain independent income.

Like the Olympics, the World Games would be staged every four years, but they would not include any Olympic sports with the International World Games Association created to run the event.

The first edition of the World Games took place in 1981 in the Californian city of Santa Clara and featured 16 sports, including

Patrick Nally is a staunch defender of the Global Association of

International Sports Federations. Photo: Getty Images

GEOFF BERKELEY SENIOR REPORTER, INSIDETHEGAMES

badminton, karate and taekwondo which went on to secure their place on the Olympic programme.

GAISF’s membership continued to grow with Dutchman Hein Verbruggen in the hotseat. The World Association of Kickboxing Organizations, the International Federation of Muaythai, the World Darts Federation, the International Dragon Boat Federation, the International Federation of Sport Climbing and the Commonwealth Games Federation were among the organisations to become members in the 2000s.

The body was also renamed SportAccord in 2009 before reverting back to GAISF eight years later, but tension with the IOC never went away.

That frustration boiled over at the SportAccord World Sport and Business Summit in April 2015, which is arguably the most infamous moment in GAISF’s history.

Speaking at the gathering in Russian city Sochi, SportAccord head Marius Vizer launched a scathing attack on the IOC and its leader Thomas Bach.

Vizer used his speech to accuse Bach of trying to block projects he tried to introduce, criticised the launch of the Olympic Channel as a waste of money, accused the IOC of a lack of transparency and claimed that Agenda 2020 had brought "hardly any benefit" to sport.

The International Judo Federation President also called for IFs to be given a greater say in the future of the IOC and for a fairer distribution of money.

Bach hit back by claiming Vizer's views were out of step with SportAccord members as the animosity between the two officials became clear.

Vizer’s explosive speech plunged the organisation into a crisis as IFs from 22 Olympic and seven non-Olympic sports subsequently withdrew or suspended their membership, while AIOWF and the Association of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations suspended their ties.

Peruvian capital Lima also withdrew as host of the SportAccord-organised World Combat Games, which had been due to take place in 2017, before Vizer resigned barely a month after his outburst.

Gian-Franco Kasper took interim charge before another Swiss in Patrick Baumann was elected as the new President of the body.

GAISF regained some of its prominence under Baumann, until his death at the age of 51 during the Summer Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires in Argentina in October 2018.

The body has since been led by Raffaele Chiulli, who took on the role before being succeeded by International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation President Ferriani in November last year.

There is now a strong Italian influence in the Olympic Movement with Ferriani heading up AIOWF, Chiulli leading ARISF and Francesco Ricci Bitti in charge of ASOIF - three bodies that hold a combined total of 83 members.

A further 40 International Federations form part of the Alliance of Independent Recognised Members of Sport, led by Germany’s Stephan Fox.

GAISF is made up of 97 full members and 20 associate members, but Ferriani claimed the organisation’s services were no longer needed and is proposing for it to be closed down.

“ASOIF, AIOWF, ARISF and AIMS are doing more for their members than ever before and this is certainly a positive,” said Ferriani. "At the same time it’s rendered GAISF services less useful and increased the risk of unnecessary duplication. "This has resulted in an evolution where the activities conducted under the GAISF in contrast to those implemented by SportAccord have been significantly reduced. "The reduction in GAISF activities bring us to a point where we have to question whether it is necessary to maintain an entity in parallel to SportAccord.

"Organisations must serve a purpose and they do not exist for their own sake. "GAISF has long served a useful function and purposes in the present situation but in view of the reduction of activities it is no longer justified to maintain its self-limited purpose. "As a Council we have come to the conclusion that the logical consequence has to be addressed. "This is why we have announced that an EGM will be called in September to decide on the dissolution of GAISF. "Dissolution will be an opportunity for GAISF to serve one final useful purpose by reinforcing SportAccord, transferring its remaining assets and providing it as well as other umbrella organisations with an increased means to develop its core activity and develop projects in the interest of sport and stakeholders.

Influnentual figure Patrick Baumann led GAISF until his death in 2018.

Photo: Getty Images

Events such as the World Combat Games will reportedly continue, even if GAISF is dissolved. Photo: GAISF

"Our proposal will not weaken but on the contrary reinforce the organisation of the global sport movement, making it linear and more focused. "It will also give it a better basis to deliver sport worldwide, building good cooperation between all the stakeholders."

Ferriani is also head of SportAccord, that features Ricci Bitti, Belgium’s Ingmar de Vos and Canada’s Luc Tardif on its Executive Committee.

The organisation annually runs global gatherings, including the SportAccord World Sport and Business Summit, Regional SportAccord and the IF Forum that bring together representatives from more than 125 IFs affiliated with ASOIF, AIOWF, ARISF, AIMS and GAISF.

“When I was elected, I received the statement from the working group which was released in April 2021 and that said there was no more raison d'être for GAISF to exist,” said Ferriani.

“When I received this document in December the first thing I did was analyse the situation to see if it was right to either dissolve GAISF or dissolve SportAccord.

“The resolution was to move GAISF to SportAccord.

“Be sure that everything has been deeply analysed since my election, so we are moving in the right direction with the right purpose.”

It was reported at GAISF’s recent virtual General Assembly that the body has assets worth CHF5.66 million and it forecast an income of CHF1.38 million this year.

Vincent Jäggi, of Swiss law firm Kellerhals Carrard, was present at the meeting where he discussed the winding up process which could be completed by the end of 2022.

He said a liquidator would be appointed following the dissolution of GAISF in order to relocate the assets to SportAccord and other umbrella organisations.

A series of workshops and explanatory sessions led by a legal working group are expected to be held over the coming weeks where members will be given the chance to voice any concerns. "Transparency and good governance throughout this entire process is essential for the relevance of a reshaped organisation,” said Ferriani. "This is why it is important to have independent external experts to ensure that the dissolution follows the required Swiss legal principles associated with it.”

GAISF also organises the World Combat Games, World Urban Games and World Mind Games.

Fox, the vice-president and multi-sport games chairman of GAISF as well as head of AIMS, insisted dissolution would not affect these events, while claiming they were still generating plenty of interest from potential host cities.

Arguably the biggest question among members is how IFs would gain recognition once GAISF has been liquidated.

Ferriani claimed at the GAISF General Assembly that this process would be conducted by SportAccord, insisting that “clear criteria” would be put in place.

Ricci Bitti then announced in June that there were plans to create a new commission to consider recognition for sports under the umbrella of the IOC.

“It’s a sort of pipe from the beginning to the Olympics,” he said.

“This group should analyse the qualities, the universality based on many criteria, and then produce a proposal for the IOC Executive Board as it was in the past.

“In terms of formal recognition, we are going to have a committee with a very precise term of reference.

GEOFF BERKELEY SENIOR REPORTER, INSIDETHEGAMES

“We are very tough on that.

“There is a veto as we have to defend the right of existing, very established sport in front of the newcomer, and of the other side to recognise the sports that have some level of universality and some level of success.”

De Vos, an IOC member who is President of the International Equestrian Federation, is on the GAISF Council along with Ferriani, Fox, Chiulli, Spain’s Marisol Casado, Britain’s Kate Caithness, Serbia’s Nenad Lalović and Italians Riccardo Fraccari and Bruno Molea.

The Belgian official argued that GAISF “did not fulfil any longer the role that it had to play in sport”.

“The most important role is the recognition of sports and IFs, where should that go?” said De Vos "And in the end we believe the best place to go is in the IOC because the IOC is anyway involved in the commissions with representation of the organisations in this pyramidal structure.”

The point of that pyramid, as De Vos put it, will be the IOC, becoming the almighty body in the world of sport - a move that Nally fiercely opposes.

“Sport needs to have its own union, its own governing body that GAISF is meant to be so this whole approach to dissolution is more about control and ownership,” said Nally.

“As long as GAISF has got people at the helm that care about sport as a whole and not necessarily about themselves as individuals, then I think it can be very well run.

‘Why kill something if all it needs is a bit of love, care and attention and it should be the very effective body that it has been, can be and will be again?”

Nally believes the GAISF’s approach to changing Presidents every two years has harmed the organisation, with Ferriani, under current rules, due to remain in charge until 2023 before being replaced by the AIMS representative.

“This rotational policy was put in place to try to avoid one individual becoming dominant and leading GAISF in some manner that might be in conflict with the IOC,” said Nally.

“But this means that GAISF has not been given to people like Patrick Baumann who was really enthusiastic and solid behind the whole concept of an International Federation of sport.”

GAISF brands itself as “One Voice for all Sports”, but Nally fears the lack of noise among International Federations in opposition to the dissolution, due to concerns that those views may hamper their Olympic ambitions, will allow the body to slip away in silence.

It is in need of a rescue plan, and it seems apt that this could come from the International Life Saving Federation - a body that is used to pulling off heroic acts.

Dissolution would require a two-thirds majority of GAISF’s 97 full members, meaning it would take 33 votes to block it in the event of a 100 per cent turnout.

Harald Vervaecke, secretary general for the ILS, wrote to GAISF members in November last year, calling for IFs to voice their opposition.

“I am writing at this pivotal time in sport to throw-up a red flag, as what is transpiring without our community is morally reprehensible,” said Vervaecke.

“Our members need more than ever to have an autonomous platform like GAISF to represent their interests and not allow minority groups to control the majority.”

Since Vervaecke’s letter, no IFs have publicly expressed their disapproval to the move to dissolve the body, but the ILS official claimed that at least 60 per cent of GAISF members were against liquidation.

Asked why those IFs have not made their opposition public, Vervaecke said: “It is all related to ‘how can I keep my sport out of the danger zone [with the IOC]?’.

“When we say that the ILS is willing to enter the Olympic Games in Brisbane in 2032 because life-saving is a really popular sport in Australia, people would say to me ‘don’t mess with the IOC otherwise they will vote against us’.

“But that’s not my philosophy. It is not a problem for me to head up [an opposition group] if that is logical.

“For me it is logical that you don’t disband an organisation like GAISF.

“You cannot hand this power to the IOC. They cannot handle this.

“You have to look at sport from the root to the top and it goes to GAISF, not to the IOC.”

Vervaecke said he would only vote in favour of a move to change the name of GAISF but is strongly against the body going under the IOC’s control.

“I would not care if this was not related to the four groups - ARISF, ASOIF, AIOWF and AIMS - as they are composed by the IOC,” he added.

“That means you don’t get a General Assembly that decides on who enters.

“You need a vote at a General Assembly or else you are just bound by the International Olympic Committee which is not an appropriate system.”

The sport of lifesaving has aptly led the charge in the fight to rescue GAISF. Photo: Getty Images