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Message: [QUOTE="Nehanda, post: 24024, member: 2262"] The IOC will choose a new president on March 20 in Greece. The winner will lead the sports world for the next 8 years. There are seven candidates. Sebastian Coe is the World Athletics chief. He won the Olympic 1,500 meters. Kirsty Coventry is Zimbabwe's sports minister. She was an Olympic swimmer. Juan Antonio Samaranch is the late IOC president's son. David Lappartient leads international cycling. Prince Feisal Al Hussein of Jordan is running, as are gymnastics chief Morinari Watanabe and Olympic newcomer Johan Eliasch. The candidates will make their case in Lausanne on Thursday, and then they have two months to lobby for votes. The IOC is the biggest, richest sports group. It has more power than FIFA. The IOC controls the Olympics and influences all sports. Sports need Olympic money and fame, and new sports want Olympic status to grow. The IOC president works with world leaders. Thomas Bach was close with France's Macron and Russia's Putin. Russia hosted the $51 billion Sochi Olympics. Then, a big doping scandal happened. Russian athletes had to compete as neutrals. The candidates discuss Russia and transgender issues, but insiders say the vote is really about money. Each group wants its share of IOC cash. The IOC is very wealthy. Top sponsors paid $2.3 billion from 2017 to 2021, TV networks paid $4.5 billion, and billions more are already promised through 2032. The IOC says 90% of the money goes to sports. Olympic sports federations split over $500 million from Tokyo, which will be $600 million from Paris 2024. Big sports like track and swimming get $50 million each. The IOC also funds half of the WADA budget. The new IOC president will control where much of this money goes, which is why this vote is so important to world sports. [/QUOTE]

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