More Participation in the Planning of the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2021 

Berlin, July 21, 2020. Athleten Deutschland e.V. welcomes the latest progress and successes achieved in the planning of the postponed Olympic Games. We recognize the complexity of the planning process in the midst of the pandemic, but we expect the IOC and the IOC Athletes’ Commission to provide more consistent and better communication on the current status of planning. The IOC must provide more information about potential scenarios and, above all, ensure more participation and involvement of the athletes in further decisions. Athletes want to be part of the solution and not just obtain information from occasional telephone conferences and press reports.

For this reason, we repeat our requests, which were already presented in the telephone conference of the IOC Athletes’ Commission at the end of March in cooperation with the DOSB Athletes’ Commission and athletes’ representatives from other countries: The Olympic Games must not endanger public health and must guarantee the health and safety of athletes. Adequate training conditions and qualification procedures must be put in place for everyone in the run-up to the Games. The anti-doping system must be intact.

We expect the IOC Athletes’ Commission and the IOC leadership to respect and fully implement the following principles:

1. Inclusiveness
In the further process, genuine participation for athletes and their representatives must be ensured. Decisions that directly or indirectly affect them must be based on their feedback. Independent athlete groups representing Olympic athletes must also be equally involved.

2. Transparency
All feedback must be visible and can be made public. If feedback is rejected or not taken into account, justification must be provided.

3. Accountability
The IOC Executive Committee and the taskforce must commit themselves to implementing the athletes’ feedback and these principles. They must then report transparently on how this input is reflected in the decision-making and scenario planning.

Maximilian Klein, Representative for International Sports Policy: “It is through honoring these principles that the athletes’ voice can be heard effectively and trust in the IOC’s commitment to genuine athlete involvement can be developed. These general requirements do not only apply to the postponement of the Olympic Games, they must also be implemented in the announced participatory processes for Rules 40 and 50 of the Olympic Charter.”