IOC president warns Italy over government interference

Italy's Olympic team risks the humiliation of being placed on probation for the Tokyo Games if the country's sports minister does not back down amid a two-yearlong dispute that amounts to government interference, IOC president Thomas Bach said.

In an extraordinary step designed to put pressure on Vincenzo Spadafora, Italy's sports minister, Bach also suggested that the alleged interference could — under extreme circumstances — result in the country being stripped of hosting rights for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo.

Bach has taken issue with the Italian government's creation of a new organization, Sport e Salute, that was created at the start of last year to run the country's sports finances, which were previously controlled by an arm of the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI).

"We are very concerned about the situation of CONI and the functioning of CONI, and these concerns are growing, because the IOC executive board had to address these questions," Bach said during a meeting with Italian media on Sunday at the cycling world championships in Imola.

A proposed new law would strengthen Spadafora's power even further, according to CONI.

CONI says that funding issues have negatively affected Italian athletes' preparation for the Tokyo Games, which were postponed a year to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

CONI has traditionally run all sports in Italy, deciding how to divide up millions of dollars of state funding to each of the country's national sports federations. Now, Sport e Salute handles that responsibility, with 280 million euros ($325 million) handed out for 2020.

Spadafora replied late Sunday that he found it hard to believe that Bach had actually read the proposed law.

"If that's really not the case, point out with absolute clarity which points do not respect the Olympic Charter," Spadafora said.