International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach
will speak at the 68th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New
York tomorrow, 6 November.
In a meeting on “Sport for Peace and Development: Building a
Peaceful and Better World through Sport and the Olympic Ideal”, President Bach
will ask the Member States of the General Assembly to adopt an Olympic Truce
for the period of the XXII Olympic Winter Games, from 7 to 23 February 2014 in
Sochi, Russia. The Truce Resolution will be introduced by the Russian
Federation on behalf of the IOC.
It is expected that President Bach will set out his vision
and policy remarks about the relationship between sport and politics, autonomy
and sports governance, the futility of Olympic Games boycotts and future
cooperation between the IOC and the UN.
The IOC was granted observer status by the UN General
Assembly in 2009.
The speech can be watched live via web cast here. The
Session is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. EST.
About the Olympic Truce
The Olympic Truce, which dates back to the 9th century BC,
supports the idea that throughout the Olympic Games, individuals, not
countries, compete against each other in peaceful sport without the burden of
politics, religion or racism.
In 1992, the IOC introduced the concept of the Olympic Truce
to the modern Olympic Games, and in 1993 the United Nations General Assembly
urged its Member States to observe the Olympic Truce. Through the Olympic Truce
Resolution the UN invites its Member States to observe and promote peace
before, during and after the Games in order to serve as a window for dialogue
and to protect the interests of athletes and sport in general.
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