IOC sets January date for 7 presidential candidates to woo Olympic voters

The International Olympic Committee has set a Jan. 30 date for the key presidential election meeting where seven candidates will meet with voters ahead of their ballot in March.

The closed-doors meeting at IOC headquarters is the only set-piece campaign event in perhaps the most discreet and secretive election in world sports. IOC rules prohibit candidates from publishing videos, organizing public meetings or taking part in public debates.

"This in-camera meeting will give the IOC members the opportunity to hear from the seven candidates about their programs," the Olympic body said in a statement on Thursday.

The candidates to replace outgoing IOC president Thomas Bach include three members of the executive board he chairs: vice president Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr. of Spain, Prince Feisal al Hussein of Jordan and Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe.

The other four are presidents of Olympic sports governing bodies: track and field's Sebastian Coe of Britain; cycling's David Lappartient from France; gymnastics leader Morinari Watanabe of Japan; and skiing's Johan Eliasch, a Swedish-British citizen.

The vote by about 100 of their fellow IOC members — including European and Middle East royalty, sports officials, former and current Olympic athletes, politicians and billionaire industrialists — is at a March 18-21 meeting near Ancient Olympia in Greece.

Bach is reaching his statutory maximum of 12 years in office and confirmed in August at the Paris Olympics that he will leave. His scheduled exit is in June after a three-month transition period with his successor.

He has long been viewed as favouring Coventry, the sports minister in Zimbabwe, who would be the first woman president in the IOC's 130-year history and the first from