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The International Olympic Committee has confirmed Pierre Jalkh as President of the Lebanese Olympic Committee. Jalkh and his management team are now awaiting ministerial administrative certification to obtain full national legitimacy and be able to manage the Lebanese Olympic Committee’s funds.
The eyes of the Lebanese sports world are on the Ministry of Youth and Sports to see if Minister Georges Kallas will sign the June 23 certificate from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recognizing the legality of the June 5 by-elections of the Lebanese Olympic Committee (LOC). The results of these elections were as follows: Pierre Jalkh (President), Mazen Ramadan (first Vice-President), Jack Tamer (second Vice-President), Sami Kablawi (third Vice-President), Assaad el-Nakhel (fourth Vice-President), Jawdat Chaker (Secretary General), Hicham Jradi (Deputy Secretary General), François Saade (Treasurer), Mahmoud Hattab (Deputy Treasurer), Rabih Salem (Accountant), Walid Doumiati, Raymond Succar, Khodr Moukaled, and Rafi Mamjouglian (consultant members). Three of these elected people are new members, namely Jawdat Chaker, Hicham Jradi, and Raymond Succar.
Chaker, who is President of the Lebanese Chess Federation, is joining the Executive Board of the Lebanese Olympic Committee for the first time, having previously held the position of Vice-President of the Lebanese Basketball Federation (LBF). For his part, Jradi is a member of the LBF and is also joining the LOC’s executive board for the first time. In recent history, the LBF has been represented in the Olympic Committee by the late Antoine Chartier, as well as by Tony Khoury, Jean Hammam and Ghassan Fares. As for Raymond Succar, he is Treasurer of the Lebanese Ski Federation (LSF) and was a member of the Olympic Committee’s Executive Board in Jean Hammam’s time. It should be noted that the previous President of the LSF, Camille Rizk, was Vice-President of the LOC during Souheil Khoury’s term of office.
Strict application of the law
Minister Kallas, known for his transparency, declared that he would follow the law to the letter to resolve the conflict within the Lebanese Olympic Committee, as there are still people standing in the way of the LOC who do not recognize the decisions made by the International Olympic Committee.
A well-informed source told This Is Beirut that “there are negotiations underway to get the Ministry of Youth and Sports to grant the decree. But in the end, despite these efforts for an amicable settlement of the crisis, Kallas will end up applying the regulation and the law.” This source adds that before “the Lebanese Olympic Committee obtained international coverage and support, the organization had put forward a request for the formalization of the distribution of positions, which was registered by the Ministry some ten days ago. The Lebanese Olympic Committee also submitted a request to the Ministry for an administrative certificate validating the legality of the Lebanese Olympic Committee chaired by Pierre Jalkh.” The source adds that “Jalkh needs this administrative certificate from the Ministry to be able to manage the Lebanese Olympic Committee’s funds, which are currently frozen.” The source concludes by saying that “the presence of Pierre Jalkh’s name as President and Jawdat Chaker’s as Secretary General on the official IOC website is proof enough of the legality of Jalkh’s team.”
On the table this week
The Lebanese Olympic dossier should be back on the table this week, after last week’s Adha holidays and Jalkh’s return from Cyprus. Jalkh and his team, who are supported by 17 Olympic federations, need this administrative certificate from the Ministry to be able to use the funds of the sports organization, with many sporting events to come. For their part, Jalkh’s opponents are working hard to ensure that he does not obtain the ministerial attestation, as it would seal the victory of the Jalkh camp.
Will Georges Kallas sign this ministerial attestation to uphold the law and put a definitive end to this crisis?
