IOC President Thomas Bach was in Warsaw, Poland, for the 48^th European Olympic Committees (EOC) General Assembly and the celebrations of the 100^th anniversary of the founding of the Polish Olympic Committee. He was welcomed by the NOC President, Andrzej Krasnicki.

During the EOC General Assembly chaired by Janez Kocijančič, President Bach urged members to defend and promote the European sports model.  He told them, “the National Olympic Committees are not there for making money. The IOC and the Olympic Games are not there for making money. We are a values-based organisation, we are there to accomplish our mission of universal competition in a peaceful way. Money is not an end in itself, it is just a means to accomplish our values-based mission, and this the authorities in Europe and elsewhere have to understand.”

President Bach went on to urge those present to continue to work for full gender equality, which he said was, “an important pillar of good governance.”  He went on, “Gender equality is important for every organisation because we cannot afford to ignore the expertise the dedication and commitment of at least 50 per cent of our society.”