Popular CEO Carrión announces candidacy for IOC president
Popular Inc. President Richard Carrión
Popular Inc. President Richard Carrión, who has also served as chairman of the Finance Commission of the International Olympic Committee and member since 1990, announced today his candidacy for the presidency of the sporting organization, bringing with him a “clear vision to address the major challenges and opportunities that lie ahead of the Olympic movement.”
By officially throwing his hat in the ring, Carrión puts to rest months of speculation regarding whether he would go for the position.
Appointed chairman of the IOC Finance Commission in 2002, Carrión has headed negotiations of Olympic TV broadcast rights for the Americas, Asia, Africa and Australia that aggregate to more than $8 billion in funding revenues for the Olympic Movement.
Broadcast rights account for two thirds of IOC revenues and for nearly 50 percent of funds granted by the IOC to organizations throughout the Olympic Movement to support the staging of the Olympic Games and to promote the worldwide development of sport.
“Chairing the Finance Commission has been a privilege that has provided me a broad view of the Movement for more than a decade, as well as a narrow focus on its essential needs to ensure its independence,” said Carrión. “We have a lot at stake in this election. Our place in the world is not guaranteed. We must have a leader that knows how not just to manage the coming change, but also make it work for the IOC and the Movement. We must embrace this ever changing reality and keep innovating and evolving, or risk becoming less relevant to this and future generations.”
Carrión was a member of the IOC executive board from 2004 to 2012 when his eight-year term expired. He has been a member of the Central Board of the International Basketball Federation and Deputy Chairman of the FIBA Finance Commission since 2010.
The Olympic Movement faces numerous ongoing threats and recent social upheavals across the world add a series of new ones, including:
- deep economic and fiscal strains that can lead to consequential impacts on sports across countries of all sizes;
- the increasing complexity of staging the Olympic Games and its effect on future bids for host cities;
- the rise of illegal betting on sports;
- growing rate of inactivity and obesity among youth.
With more than 20 years of active involvement in the Olympic Movement, more than 30 years of business and management experience running a leading financial institution, and participation in many other organizations, Carrión has developed the skills to lead the movement in the years to come and the experience to perceive and assess the complex and changing dynamics of present times, a press release announcing his candidacy stated.
Central to his vision for the Olympic Movement are the use of a multi-partner approach to achieve universality by building on the UN observer status of the IOC, improve the effectiveness of the revenue-distribution models of the IOC to create a new special fund for sports education and development that is complementary to Olympic Solidarity and bring in-house some functions of the organization of the Olympic Games by identifying those areas where IOC can implement models based on the successful structure of the Olympic Broadcasting Services.
“The most important thing I offer is an unwavering commitment to the values at the core of the Movement,” said Carrión. “Adopted by the movement at large as Friendship, Excellence and Respect, these values have for more than a hundred years inspired not only athletes, but also men, women and children all around the world.”
“We have a responsibility to continue defending and promoting these values by working tirelessly to realize Pierre de Coubertin’s vision that the practice of sport is a human right,” said Carrión.
