FILE PHOTO: Paris 2024 Olympics - Athletics - Women's Marathon Victory Ceremony - Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France - August 11, 2024. World Athletics President Sebastian Coe and International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach during the medal ceremony REUTERS/Phil Noble/File Photo
(Reuters) - International Olympic Committee presidential hopefuls, including World Athletics chief Sebastian Coe, face a set of election rules that could influence next year's vote for the new head of the world's biggest multi-sports organisation.
Britain's former Olympic champion Coe, 67, and Spanish IOC Vice President Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr, the 64-year-old son of the late former IOC chief, are two of the potential candidates eyeing the top job in the Olympic body.
A letter sent this week by IOC ethics commission chief Ban Ki-moon to all members said the elected IOC president would have to be an IOC member throughout their entire term, while the age limit for IOC membership is 70 even for the top job, with only one possibility of a four-year extension.
The first term for an IOC president is eight years, which means that under current rules Coe and Samaranch, if elected, would exceed the age limit during their first years in office.
IOC members are elected either through their positions as heads of international federations and National Olympic Committees or as individual members.
Coe got onto the IOC in 2020 through his position as president of World Athletics.
"Pursuant the Olympic Charter the IOC President must be a member of the IOC at the time of the election and during the entire duration of their term as IOC President," the letter said.
The rules do not pose any immediate problem for either Coe or Samaranch to run for the position.
They are both under the age limit and current IOC members. The rules could, however, be an obstacle during a potential presidency should Coe, for example, lose his World Athletics post that is linked to his IOC membership.
IOC presidents, however, are able to push through rule changes quite easily, either through executive board decisions or charter changes.
Neither Coe nor Samaranch immediately responded to a request for comment.
The new president will be elected by IOC members in March 2025 at a session in ancient Olympia, Greece, and will take over in June that year, Bach said, to allow a smooth transition.
The IOC will announce the list of eligible candidates on Sept. 16.
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Ken Ferris)
