Harald Vervaecke’s furious letter to all sports world federations – SPORT & POLITICS

Read the English version below.

The Belgian Harald VervaeckeSecretary General of the International Life Saving Federation (ILS) today sent a letter to all members of the Global Association of International Sports Federation (GAISF) written. It’s a rare act of defiance in the IOC’s heavy-handed Olympic (and non-Olympic) world. The GAISF members are just arriving in Lausanne, where the so-called IF Forum will take place on Monday and the GAISF General Assembly on Tuesday. The GAISF meeting is to decide the dissolution of the once proud and important body and the affiliation to SportAccord, the previous business arm of GAISF.

Absurd. Insanity. dubious.

Harald Vervaecke fights against it – and thus automatically against them IOC deity Thomas Bach. Because that’s how it’s read in Lausanne.

There are a number of exceptionally noteworthy details in Vervaecke’s letter. For example this statement:

The IOC is not the official organ that represent the Sports.

The IOC is a Global Multi-Sport Games Organiser. The Olympic Games are the largest multi-sport event in the world in terms of worldwide interest and importance (though not in participation).

This is also so remarkable because the IOC and its allies, for example, in their lobbying work on the “European sports model”, presented it as if mass sport would not exist without the Olympic Games and IOC marketing.

This is one of the great untruths of the present, one should probably even label it as a deliberate lie.

In his letter, Harald Vervaecke indirectly addresses some of the research I did a week ago Play the Game (World sports federations may give up their own independent platform) – well documented with videos and numerous internal documents.

Thread
Something exclusive, as text and video: my contribution to the planned dissolution of @gaisf_sport and the role of the IOC, IOC member Ivo Ferriani and other officials – read @PlaytheGame … and here are video clips about it …
/1https://t.co/IzwJOPisfL

— SPORT & POLITICS (@JensWeinreich) November 18, 2022

In it I revealed that GAISF President Ivo Ferriani (also an IOC member) is threatening internally to march out with all Olympic sports federations (summer ASOIF and winter AIOWF) and carry out the split should the election be lost.

In it I also revealed that Ferriani constantly refers to talks with his boss Thomas Bach and, among other things, promises additional compensation for the top officials in the future.

This was previously unknown in the GAISF family and rightly causes irritation. My text and the videos were carefully studied at the IOC headquarters.

It would at least be a clear conflict of interest, close to corruption – someone is fighting for the dissolution of a world umbrella organization under dubious and non-transparent circumstances and can expect future financial compensation in the new role.

Harald Vervaecke shows courage that is rare in these circles. The Empire will take revenge on him. But before that, Vervaecke may manage to prevent the 2/3 majority for the dissolution of GAISF on Tuesday in Lausanne. His chances are slim. The scene has traditionally been dominated by opportunists and other cowards – and of course by the Olympic federations and the many enforcers by Bach’s grace. Ferriani is just one of them.

Some highlights from the writing:

it is better to dissolve the company SportAccord which has little or no rules and is quite controversial rather than to dissolve the GAISF which has a proven record.

It has grown over the last 100 years to be the global platform and thus Parliament of Sport

The IOC is not the official organ that represent the Sports. … The IOC is a Global Multi-Sport Games Organiser. The Olympic Games are the largest multi-sport event in the world in terms of worldwide interest and importance (though not in participation).

How can a group of four people that were supposed to only organise Conferences define themselves nowadays to be “modern and more efficient” than GAISF and think they can represent all International Federations? If GAISF is dissolved next week, then SportAccord only will consist of ASOIF and AIOWF, thus two people. Is this good governance?

Ivo Ferriani is coming forward with a dissolution of the GAISF. But what will come in place? International Federations are now forced to make a decision. We repeat and repeat: noting tangible is put on paper to replace the GAISF. The whole approach is to be categorised as poor governance. The announcement of the intent to dissolve the GAISF is anything but transparent and not in the spirit of closely working with GAISF Members.

The deciding power is in the hands of the Executive Committee of a business entity. The International Federations are bye-passed.

The GAISF Members need more than ever to have an autonomous platform like the GAISF to represent their interests. The GAISF is as relevant as ever and must continue to represent all its Members. The GAISF must closely work together with the IOC, but also with all other Sport Organisations.

SportAccord is a company, is not relevant and can easily be dissolved.
I am writing as our collective voice matters: we should keep the GAISF and dissolve SportAccord.

English version:

A rare act of resistance: Harald Vervaecke’s furious letter to all sports world federations

Belgian Harald VervaeckeSecretary General of the International Life Saving Federation (ILS), today wrote a letter to all members of the Global Association of International Sports Federation (GAISF). It is a rare act of resistance in the Olympic (and also non-Olympic) world run with a heavy hand by the IOC. GAISF members are just arriving in Lausanne, where the so-called IF Forum will take place on Monday and the GAISF General Assembly on Tuesday. The GAISF meeting is expected to decide to dissolve the once proud and important body and affiliate it to SportAccord, the previous business arm of GAISF.

Absurd. Insane. Dubious.

Harald Vervaecke fights against it – and thus automatically against the IOC deity Thomas Bach. Because that is how it is read in Lausanne.

There are several extraordinary remarkable details in Vervaecke’s letter. For example, this statement:

The IOC is not the official organ that represents the Sports. … The IOC is a Global Multi-Sport Games Organiser. The Olympic Games are the largest multi-sport event in the world in terms of worldwide interest and importance (though not in participation).

This is also remarkable because the IOC and its allies, for example, in their lobbying for the „European sports model“, have presented it as if grassroots sport would not exist without the Olympic Games and the IOC marketing.

This is one of the great untruths of the present, and should probably even be labelled a deliberate lie.

In his letter, Harald Vervaecke indirectly addresses some points of the research I published a week ago on Play the Game (World sports federations may give up their own independent platform) – well documented with videos and numerous internal documents.

In it I revealed that GAISF President Ivo Ferriani (also an IOC member) was internally threatening to march out with all Olympic sports federations (summer ASOIF and winter AIOWF) and go through with the split if the election was lost.

In it, I had also revealed that Ferriani constantly refers to talks with his boss Thomas Bach and, among other things, holds out the prospect of additional compensation for top officials in the future.

This was not known in the GAISF family until now and rightly causes irritation. My text and the videos were studied carefully at IOC headquarters.

It would at least be a clear conflict of interest, close to corruption – someone fights for the dissolution of a world governing body under dubious and non-transparent circumstances and may expect financial compensation in the new role in the future.

THREAD
In the Olympic world, letters like this are BREAKING, extraordinary.
It is about the planned and highly dubious dissolution of @GAISF_sport … opposition comes from Harald Vervaecke, Secretary General @ils_life_saving. The best and smartest document I know about this!
/1 pic.twitter.com/4AwbSFyJnD

— SPORT & POLITICS (@JensWeinreich) November 27, 2022

Harald Vervaecke shows courage, which is rare in these circles. The empire will take its revenge on him. But before that, Vervaecke may manage to prevent the 2/3 majority for the dissolution of GAISF on Tuesday in Lausanne. His chances are small. The scene is traditionally dominated by opportunists and other cowards – and of course by the Olympic Federations and the many enforcers by Bach’s grace. Ferriani is just one of them.

A few highlights from the letter:

it is better to dissolve the company SportAccord which has little or no rules and is quite controversial rather than to dissolve the GAISF which has a proven record.

It has grown over the last 100 years to be the global platform and thus Parliament of Sport.

The IOC is not the official organ that represent the Sports. … The IOC is a Global Multi-Sport Games Organiser. The Olympic Games are the largest multi-sport event in the world in terms of worldwide interest and importance (though not in participation).

How can a group of four people that were supposed to only organise Conferences define themselves nowadays to be „modern and more efficient“ than GAISF and think they can represent all International Federations? If GAISF is dissolved next week, then SportAccord only will consist of ASOIF and AIOWF, thus two people. Is this good governance?

Ivo Ferriani is coming forward with a dissolution of the GAISF. But what will come in place? International Federations are now forced to make a decision. We repeat and repeat: noting tangible is put on paper to replace the GAISF. The whole approach is to be categorised as poor governance. The announcement of the intent to dissolve the GAISF is anything but transparent and not in the spirit of closely working with GAISF members.

The deciding power is in the hands of the Executive Committee of a business entity. The International Federations are bye-passed.

The GAISF Members need more than ever to have an autonomous platform like the GAISF to represent their interests. The GAISF is as relevant as ever and must continue to represent all its Members. The GAISF must closely work together with the IOC, but also with all other Sport Organisations.

SportAccord is a company, is not relevant and can easily be dissolved.
I am writing as our collective voice matters: we should keep the GAISF and dissolve SportAccord.

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