II.

Organization

The Olympics organization is headed by a president, elected by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) members for an initial period of eight years. The present office-holder is the Belgian Jacques Rogge, who succeeded Juan Antonio Samaranch in July 2001. The term of office for members of the IOC is also eight years. At the end of January 2006 there were 110 members, 24 honorary members, and 3 honour members. The IOC maintains headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, and currently recognizes 202 national Olympic committees. In 1999 it was hit by the worst scandal in its history after finding six of its members guilty of accepting improper gifts from cities bidding to host the Games. Known as the Salt Lake City affair after the Games in question, the subsequent inquest, which uncovered a “culture of improper gift giving”, resulted in the members being expelled and new reform measures being adopted.

The venue for the Winter Games, like those of the Summer Olympics, is usually chosen six or seven years in advance by the IOC. The 2006 Games were held in Turin, Italy. In July 2003, Vancouver (Canada) was chosen as the host city for 2010; the next milestone is July 2007, when the venue for the 2014 Winter Olympics will be decided.