Bad news on the soccer pitch for China, but good news came from
the 116th International Olympic Committee session in Athens.
Yu Zaiqing, vice chairman of the
Chinese Olympic Committee (COC)
was elected to the IOC Executive Board.
The 53-year-old Yu has been an IOC member since 2000. He beat
Richard Carrion (Puerto Rico), Phillip Walter Coles (Australia),
Mostafa Hashemi Taba (Iran) and Carlos Arthur Nuzman (Brazil) to
take the board's fifth seat.
This was his second bid for the board. He failed in last year's
IOC assembly in Prague, Czech Republic.
Yu's election was seen as crucial for China as it prepares to
host the 2008 Olympics.
Yu Zaiqing says as the newly elected executive board member, he
will try to play an important role between the IOC and the Beijing
Olympic Organizing Committee.
Yu is the second Chinese elected to the executive board,
following He Zhenliang, the former IOC vice president. The
75-year-old He says Yu will have a greater responsibility in
helping China to host a successful Games.
The IOC currently has 124 members. The executive board, chaired
by IOC president Jacques Rogge, sets committee policy and serves as
an inner cabinet.
Meanwhile, Sweden's Gunilla Lindberg became the second woman in
history to be elected vice president of the IOC. The 57-year-old
Lindberg, who has been on the executive board since 2000, was
elected unanimously to one of the four available vice presidential
spots.
(CRI August 12, 2004)
