The National Olympic vourably on any infringement of out the necessary insurance, Committees their prerogatives. The role of and to make arrangements for the National Committee is to medical supervision. It is also at come to their aid and to simplify all times responsible for the be- As we have seen, Pierre de Cou- the participations of their repre- haviour of its delegations bertin started with the most dif- sentatives in the Olympic It must also see to the protec- ficult task of all — the creation Games.” tion and development of the of an International Committee. The National Olympic Commit- Olympic Movement and amateur Modelled on the International tes were also to be made re- sport. Committee, and in each country, sponsible for making the Olym- That is to say, the National a National Committee must be pic Movement known and to Olympic Committee must teach set up which shall be responsi- spread its ideas. the fundamental principles of ble for ensuring the country’s Olympism and make sure they participation in the Olympic Ga- The territorial agents of the are respected ; ines every four years, until its International Olympic Committee serve as a link between the turn comes to organize them at national sports federations affi- home. Nowadays, although the task of liated to the International Fede- The first two National Olympic the National Olympic Commit- rations recognised by the IOC ; Committees were naturally the tees remains the same, the list of encourage and aid the govern- Greek and French. Others soon their responsibilities and duties ment of its country in working followed. has grown tremendously over out and implementing a pro- the years and is defined in gramme of physical culture and Independence, stability, Rule 24. sport for the youth of the country with a view to developing their efficiency It is they who provide for the offi- cial representation of the ath- character, health, and civic The role and formation were un- letes of their country or territory sense ; settled. Pierre de Coubertin ex- in the Olympic Games. In fact. resist all political or commercial pressed his thoughts on this the National Olympic Committee interference and all religious or matter as follows : alone may enter competitors for racial discrimination in sport ; “The National Olympic Commit- the Games according to the publish a programme destined tees are not to be merely ema- ICC's eligibility code and its Pre- to enlighten the public and the nations of the main sports fede- sident signs the entry forms press regarding the Olympic phi- rations or associations of the jointly with the President of the losophy and the benefits of ama- country and, in general they national federation concerned. teurism ; must take care to remain aloof Each NOC is responsible for or- take care not to place too much from internal quarrels that pre- ganizing and supervising the emphasis on mere performance vail more or less in all places. participation of its team in the or new records, but rather on They must therefore be corn- Olympic Games, in particular to the educational, social, aesthet- posed of competent personali- provide for its equipment, trans- ic, ethical and spiritual value of ties, beyond all reproach and un- port and accomodation, to take sport. connected with any factions. It would be preferable for these committees to be permanent so that they could meet whenever required even in the interval bet- ween Olympic Games, but these meetings need not be long or frequent. One cannot stress too strongly the dangers involved if a National Olympic Committee were to become a central and guiding feature in the sports ac- tivity of a country. Dissensions would be bound to arise, for the federations would not look fa- 23 Each National Olympic commit- ternational Olympic Committee. cisely defined. In 1954, the final tee therefore must take effective Originally, National Olympic rule was elaborated : Rule 24. action to encourage vocations in Committees could be formed From then on, any changes were sport, to promote the principles only with the agreement of the merely changes with regard to and ideals of Olympism and in members of the International detail. this way make the youth of its Olympic Committee for their A National Olympic Committee country passionately keen to country, who had the power to must be composed of at least achieve the supreme honour, for put an end to this recognition by five national sports federations an athlete — participation in the a statement. This draconian rule (one per sport), affiliated to the Olympic Games. had been made to avoid inci- International Federations recog- Let us stress that the National dents caused by the creation of nised by the IOC. Olympic Committees are entitled several opposing or conflicting The members of the IOC are to use the Olympic flag and em- national committees in the same also members of the National blems. Nevertheless, it is their country, as had already occurred Olympic Committee. We note duty to limit this use to activities in particular in South America. also, that the Olympic Federa- connected with the Olympic Ga- Rule 15 appearing in the 1924 tions must hold the majority vote mes — just as with the terms edition of the “International in the National Olympic Com- “Olympic” and “Olympiad”, be- Olympic Committee Rules and mittee. cause their use for commercial Regulations” stipulated that the The recognition of the National purposes is prohibited. National Olympic Committees Olympic Committee is subject to must be established in accor- the approval of its Statutes by The necessity of their dance with the national federa- the session of the International recognition tions or societies of the country Olympic Committee. Naturally and with the members of the In- this recognition can be forfeited To be allowed to join the Olym- ternational Olympic Committee in case of failure to comply with pic family, a national committee for that country. The recognition the fundamental rules. The has to be recognised by the In- procedure was later more pre- National Olympic Committee 24 then loses its right to send par- The Olympic Days the revival of the Olympic ticipants to the Olympic Games. Games. The recognition of a National One of the tasks of the National The first “Olympic Day” was Olympic Committee by the Inter- Olympic Committees is to cele- held in June 1948 and, in the national Olympic Committee in a brate an “Olympic Day”. The course of time, a growing num- country or a geographical region idea for this project was pre- ber of countries have joined in does not imply its political recog- sented in 1947 by Dr. Gruss, a this movement. nition. In addition, it can only member of the IOC for Czechol- Arrangements for these events be given if this country or region slovakia, at the session of the vary from country to country and has had a stable government for International Olympic Committee the programmes differ greatly. In a reasonable period of time. in Stockholm, and adopted in most cases, sports events and The 130 National Olympic Com- January 1948 at the session in demonstrations are organized, mittees in existence today are St. Moritz. The National Olympic as well as lectures and the very different in character. Apart Committees were made respon- showing of films in clubs and from the basic Statute laid down sible for organizing this event. schools ; the Olympic emblems by the International Olympic The International Olympic Com- are honoured and their signifi- Committee, no other common mittee recommended that they cance explained ; exhibitions law governs them all. Their choose a date preferably bet- help to spread the Olympic ideal. means of existence differ : some ween 17th and 24th June, thus of them are powerful and repre- marking the wish to celebrate sent the highest sport body in the anniversary of the congress Obviously, the first task of any their country, others find it ex- at the Sorbonne in Paris on 23rd National Olympic Committee is tremely difficult to fulfil their June 1894 when Pierre de Cou- to establish its reputation administrative tasks. bertin succeeded in obtaining Avery Brundage. The National Olympic Committees National Olympic Federation of Afghanistan 1936 Prince M. SIRAJ Kabul Comité Olympique de la République Populaire d’Albanie 1959 Rexhep DODA Tirana Comité National Olympique Algérien 1964 Colonel Mohamed ZERGUINI Alger Nationales Olympisches Komitee für Deutschland 1950 Willi DAUME Frankfurt am Main Nederlands Antilliaans Olympisch Comite 1950 Juan ISA Curaçao Saudi Arabia Olympic Committee 1965 H. R. H. Prince Abdullah al Faisal Riyadh Comité Olympico Argentino 1927 Esc. Fernando MADERO Buenos Aires Australian Olympic Federation 1895 Sir Harold ALDERSON Melbourne Kt. M. B. E. Kt. St. J. Österreichisches Olympisches Komitee 1912 Dr. H. PRUCKNER Vienne Bahamas Olympic Association 1952 Dr. Norman R. GAY Nassau Barbados Olympic Association 1955 H. M. SIMMONS Bridgetown Comité Olympique Belge 1906 Colonel Raoul MOLLET Bruxelles Bermuda Olympic Association 1936 W. F. HAYWARD Hamilton Burma Olympic Committee 1947 U. Hla HTUN Rangoon Comité Olympico Boliviano 1936 José Camarra ZORRILLA La Paz Comité Olympico Brasileiro 1935 Major Sylvio de Magalhaes PADILHA Rio de Janeiro Comité Olympique Bulgare 1923 Général Vladimir STOYTCHEV Sofia Comité National Olympique Khmer 1961 Colonel Paul Littaye SUON Phnom-Penh Comité Olympique Camerounais 1963 Ernest WANKO Yaoundé Canadian Olympic Association 1907 Harold M. WRIGHT Montreal Comité Olympique Centrafricain 1965 LouisASSANA-NASSEL