The Elizalde legacy

There are 101 members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and only 19 are from Asia. The Philippines has no representative as Frank Elizalde retired at the end of last year after turning 80 and serving since 1985. Elizalde, however, was elected to join an elite group of 33 honorary IOC members.

In the IOC, China has three members and South Korea, two. Asian countries with at least one representative are Japan, Oman, Jordan, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, India, Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, Kuwait, Pakistan, People’s Republic of Korea and Singapore. Asian Games equestrian gold medalist Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski has been nominated to become an IOC member in place of Elizalde and her qualifications are currently being evaluated.

Aside from Elizalde, three other Asians are in the roster of honorary members – China’s Zhengliang He and Japan’s Chiharu Igaya and Shun-ichiro Okano. Igaya competed in three Olympic Winter Games as a skier while Okano played football at the 1968 Summer Games. Not too many know that Elizalde was awarded the Olympic Order in Silver for meritorious service last year. Although he has retired as a regular IOC member, he remains chairman of the IOC Nominations Commission and a member of the IOC Ethics Commission. Elizalde was appointed to the Nominations Commission in 2003 and the Ethics Commission in 2009. He was a member of the IOC Marketing Commission from 1989 to 1999 and the Evaluation Commissions for the 2004 and 2008 Olympics.

So while Elizalde no longer has voice or vote in the IOC, he will continue to attend the Congress and his advice still much sought after by IOC President Jacques Rogge. “The IOC President has asked him to continue on as a member of the Ethics Commission and postpone his retirement until Rogge finishes his term at the end of 2013,” said a POC insider. “Then, just when he thought he could lay back and ‘concentrate on watching sports and taking siestas,’ he received another message asking if he would accept an appointment to continue on as Chair of the powerful Nominations Commission. That’s more voice and vote than a lot of regular IOC members 20 years his junior would even dream of. Must be a reason. For that right? Integrity, independence.”

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Elizalde’s first 20 years with the IOC came under the administration of Juan Antonio Samaranch as President. He arrived as the IOC was virtually in a political war zone and a state of flux after the Free World boycott of the 1980 Moscow Games. The IOC’s commercial stability was in serious doubt. Elizalde’s early involvement in the IOC Marketing Commission was critical in that the organization badly sought to establish financial independence and forestall repercussions from any political maneuver. Later, Elizalde was named to the Nominations and Ethics Commissions as the IOC realized his reputation of fairness would be crucial in affirming transparency and accountability in every IOC undertaking, particularly in the wake of the Salt Lake City bidding bribery scandal and accusations of scandalous activities.

“With sport rising in power, revenues were assured and no government need ever to go into debt for the honor of hosting an Olympics,” continued the POC source who noted that 1976 host Montreal paid off its $5 Billion obligation plus interest only in 2005.

As the IOC evolved into a giant self-sustaining entity, Elizalde was in the thick of the process. He threw his support behind Samaranch’s efforts in forming five continental Olympic associations, recognizing both China and Chinese-Taipei in the Olympics, developing the Olympics as a commercially viable enterprise, opening the doors of the Olympics to professional athletes in certain sports (including basketball and tennis) and widening the membership of the IOC to welcome more athletes, women and sports officials.

“Politically, in those years that Mr. Elizalde was active in the IOC and POC, some major issues were resolved – South Africa being reinstated after being banned because of apartheid, China coming back to the Olympics with a bang and hosting the 2008 Games as the culmination of a 100-year dream, Palestine being accepted and over 28 new nations formed after the fall of the Berlin Wall joining the Games,” noted the POC insider. “I remember Cong (POC President Jose Cojuangco, Jr.) inviting Mr. Elizalde to a dinner hosted by some high-powered politicians from a bid city in 2006 and he politely declined because of the IOC rules establishing periods when IOC members could be campaigned to and not. Shortly after, Mr. Elizalde was appointed to the IOC Ethics Commission then reappointed.”

Elizalde’s influence on the POC is as distinct. In expressing the values of Olympism, Elizalde often reminds National Sports Association (NSA) officials to preserve the integrity of their discipline, to defend their independence from government and to develop athletes as inspiring role models for the youth.

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“Mr. Elizalde has worked to see our sports laws conform to the Olympic ideals,” added the POC source. “He has called on NSA leaders to be hands-on and to unite constantly. He has done his work here and abroad in an unassuming manner. He is no-nonsense and walks carrying a big stick to protect the Olympic movement from backsliders and wrong-doers. He has spoken frankly as much as inspiringly to the POC. He has told government to respect the Olympic movement.” From Samaranch’s revolutionary term to Rogge’s evolutionary progress, Elizalde was a fixture in IOC’s history.

As an astute businessman and Harvard graduate, Elizalde applied his principles of success in the private world to the IOC. He kept things simple, sticking to core capabilities and always staying humble. Elizalde once said, “Everything must be open to reform and revision … we are a very disparate group, some members boast about not reading bid books or evaluation reports … the IOC must keep its emphasis on sport, not peripheral issues of peace, environment, children. Don’t let us be candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize. If it comes, it comes. We are not the United Nations.”

Under Rogge, the IOC has blossomed into an organization that is practical and visionary. The Youth Olympics Games became a reality, allowing “small” hosts like Singapore and Nanjing to experience what it’s like to stage a mini-version of the Olympics. The trend is to limit the Olympic calendar to core sports and clean up the Games, cracking down on drug users and cheaters. With the Olympics still continuing to evolve, Elizalde remains a valuable asset in concretizing the direction the Games will take.

It’s no wonder that at the recent London Olympics, Elizalde was chosen by the IOC to award gold medals to each and every player on the US basketball team during the presentation ceremony. Basketball was clearly the most commercially viable sport in the Olympics and it was a tribute to Elizalde that he was assigned to represent the IOC in the rites. Even more than his pristine reputation, what has endeared Elizalde to the IOC is his passion for sports, his love for the game. As a sportsman himself, he has dabbled in football, boxing, swimming and athletics.

A few weeks ago, the POC voted unanimously to retain Elizalde as a regular member of the General Assembly and ex-officio member of the Executive Board with voice and vote. There was no debating the issue. Philippine sports couldn’t be more fortunate with Elizalde on its side.