Time for change is now: IOC president Bach

MONTE CARLO - International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach urged the members on Saturday to support his reform package while addressing the opening ceremony of the 127th IOC Session in Monaco.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach attends a news conference as part of the IOC Executive Board meeting in Monaco December 6, 2014. The IOC unveiled its timeline for candidates for the 2024 summer Games but Bach said an invitation phase would precede it if changes to the bidding process are approved next week. [Photo/Agencies]

"The time for change is now," said the German lawyer by profession, who's elected to take charge of the world's biggest multi-sports event's governing body in September, 2013.

The IOC Session, slated on Monday and Tuesday, is to vote on the extraordinary plans, the "Olympic Agenda 2020", with 40 recommendations aiming to maintain the relevance and continued growth of the Olympic movement change in future years.

"In our world, which is changing faster than ever, the success of yesterday means nothing for today," Bach said. "The success of today gives you only the opportunity to drive the change for tomorrow. If we do not address these challenges here and now we will be hit by them very soon."

The overhaul includes changes to the Olympic Games' bidding process, such as allowing joint bid, letting bidders bring in more sports than the current 28 and encouraging temporary venues, as the IOC want to make hosting the Games easier, cheaper and more sustainable.

Protecting clean athletes, setting up an Olympic TV channel and moving from a "sport-based to an event-based program" are other issues focused by Bach's reform package.

"The Olympic Agenda 2020 is like a jigsaw puzzle. Every piece, every recommendation, has the same importance," said Bach. "Only when you put all these 40 pieces together you see the whole picture."

"If I would deliver this speech in a theatre I would say with an ironic smile: To change or to be changed, that is the question, " he added.