The Executive Committee of the European Olympic Committees (EOC) held its first meeting of 2020  at the new headquarters of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Lausanne, Switzerland.

EOC President Janez Kocijančič opened the meeting by praising the work of the 50 European National Olympic Committees, the staff of the EOC, and especially the organisers of the four EOC sporting events held in 2019 (Minsk European Games, EYOF Sarajevo & East Sarajevo, EYOF Baku and Games of the Small States of Europe Montenegro).

“But it is my opinion,” Kocijančič said, “that if you do something good you can always do it better. We are responsible for the development of Olympic sport in Europe and as such we should work even harder and better [in 2020 and beyond].”

IOC President Thomas Bach welcomed the Executive Committee Members to the Olympic House and addressed a number of issues of importance to the Olympic Movement in Europe and around the world. This included the protection of the European Model of Sport, the upcoming Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 and the importance of Rule 50 of the Olympic Charter, which prohibits any kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda at the Games.

“The Olympic Games are not and must never be a platform to advance political or any other divisive ends,” Bach said. “There are certain rules that need to be respected, disrespecting them is against our values. Even if some athletes choose not to respect the rules, they should respect their fellow athletes.”

In a report from EOC Secretary General Raffaele Pagnozzi, he praised the recently concluded Youth Olympic Games Lausanne 2020, which he described as “fantastic.”