In an exclusive interview with Xinhua, IOC President Kirsty Coventry has laid out her reform roadmap, calling for introspection and collaboration through a "Pause and Reflect" process and setting up working groups to address youth engagement, Esports, and the protection of women's sport.
BEIJING, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Kirsty Coventry has revealed that the organization is re-evaluating its planned entry into Esports and that an expert group is examining the issue of transgender women's participation to protect the female category.
Talking to Xinhua during her visit to China, Coventry said her administration, which began in June, has entered what she termed a "Pause and Reflect" phase.
"On June 24, I started my presidency saying, let's pause and let's reflect, let's analyze whether we're fit for the future," she said.
Coventry said this approach is focused on listening and collaboration. "The way you build a successful team is that everyone has to feel they're individually succeeding," she said. "A lot of this process is about listening, then getting collective input from everybody."
Under her "Fit for the Future" initiative launched in September, the IOC has formed four working groups focused on the Youth Olympic Games, the Olympic program, commercial partnerships, and the protection of the female category.
Coventry also addressed the IOC's decision to end its partnership with Saudi Arabia's Olympic and Paralympic Committee and the Esports World Cup Foundation, which had aimed to launch the Olympic Esports Games. "We jointly agreed that we needed to re-evaluate a number of things," she said. "There is a huge opportunity, but there were question marks on how we would implement it and what would that look like."
The Zimbabwean said a smaller internal group is now reviewing how the IOC might enter the Esports space responsibly. "We have to be very clear because that's new territory for us," she said, noting ongoing debate about whether to include only sports-themed games.
On reports suggesting an imminent ban on transgender women in international competitions, Coventry said the matter remains under expert review. "We have set a working group to look at the protection of the female category," she said. "It's a medically driven, scientific discussion."
She stressed that the process is ongoing. "Some people may be jumping the gun. We need to allow the experts to finish their work and come back to us with their recommendations." ■
