Singaporean sailor elected as Vice President of the International Olympic Committee

Olympic rings - 2012 Olympic Sailing Regatta, Weymouth © Richard Gladwell

Ng Ser Miang was a Vice President of the Int Sailing Federation before moving across to the Intl Olympic Committee where he is now in a second term as Sen. Vice President © Alastair Miller

World Sailing could be on a collision course with the International Olympic Committee if the world sailing body persists with the advancement of radical changes to the 2024 Olympic sailing events, given the views of a newly elected IOC Vice President.

Former IOC Vice President, Ser Miang Ng, who is also a former Vice President of World Sailing, was recently elected as a Vice President of the IOC at its 136th Session. The session was the first ever to be held by videoconference.

Singaporean Ser Miang Ng's four year term as an IOC Executive Board member finished at the 136th Session and he was successful in his election for a second term as an IOC Vice President.

Following World Sailing's controversial decision in 2018 to propose changing half the events for the 2024 Olympic Regatta, Ser Miang wrote a scathing commentary on his Facebook page on October 30, 2018 soon after the conclusion of the World Sailing Annual Conference when a Late and Urgent Submission was approved by the Board and recommended to the Council that the Mixed One Person Dinghy event selected in May 2018 was no viable and proposed the Mixed Two Person Offshore Keelboat event instead.

"The Olympic Games is not a testing ground for new experiment," Ser Miang he wrote. "The complexity of our sport cannot be an excuse for not following principles and protecting the integrity of our sport and most importantly our sailors. In most of the Olympic IFs, the National Federations form the supreme body of their sport. Sailing is no different, classes and equipment manufacturers are important partners, but they are not National Federations. It is time for the MNAs to be involved and to take charge."

The full post can be read by clicking here

All International Federations have to submit their best proposal for 2024 events to the IOC for consideration on December 2020. While the IOC makes it clear that it does not dictate to International Federations, it does own and have the ultimate say in the Olympic properties that it owns.

Prior to that World Sailing will undergo an Election for President, and Vice Presidents who form the Board of World Sailing. Three or four candidates, including former 29er, 49er and Finn class President, Gerardo Seeliger (ESP) are expected to stand against the incumbent President, Kim Andersen (DEN) who is eligible to serve a second term. It is not known how many, if any of the current Board will stand for re-election. Two prominent sailors, Luca Devoti (ITA/ESP) and Ricardo Simoneschi (ITA) have indicated their intention to stand, but must receive nomination support from a minimum of five member national authorities.

The World Sailing Annual Conference will be held electronically and all voting will be done electronically - which is expected to allow many smaller countries to vote. Each MNA has a single vote regardless of size.