Ingmar De Vos elected to ASOIF Council

Ingmar De Vos, President of the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI), was today elected to the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) Council at its General Assembly held during the SportAccord World Sport and Business Forum in the Gold Coast (AUS).

The Belgian native, who was elected in the first round of voting, is also a member of the ASOIF Governance Task Force which was created in November 2015 to promote and ensure a culture of good governance within International Federations.  

“I am truly honoured to be elected as an ASOIF Council member and would like to thank my colleagues for their confidence in me”, the FEI President said. “It was a close vote but I was happy to be elected in the first round. I’d like to congratulate my colleagues who were also elected today and look forward to working together with my fellow Council members to further the mission and role of this important organisation in the Olympic movement.”

Ingmar De Vos, whose mandate will run through to 2023, was one of seven candidates running for election for three vacancies on the Council. Also standing for election were Kim Anderson, World Sailing (WS); Marisol Casado, International Triathlon Union (ITU); Vladimir Lisin, International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF); José Perurena, International Canoe Federation (ICF); Jean-Christophe Rolland, World Rowing (FISA) and Morinari Watanabe, International Gymnastics Federation (FIG).

Marisol Casado and Morinari Watanabe were elected in the first round of voting, alongside Ingmar De vos. The ICF President José Perurena, who was originally standing for re-election together with Marisol Casado, withdrew prior to today’s vote, leaving six candidates.

The eight-member Council is now made up of ASOIF President Ricci Bitti (ITA); Professor Dr Uğur Erdener (TUR), President of World Archery (WA); Marisol Casado (ESP); Sebastien Coe (GBR), President of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF); Nenad Lalovic (SER), President of United World Wrestling (UWW); FEI President Ingmar De Vos; Morinari Watanabe (JPN); and Andrew Ryan (GBR), ASOIF Executive Director.

The ASOIF Council is responsible for preparing and conducting the General Assembly as well as implementing its decisions. The Council is composed of the President, six elected members from different Federations, as well as the ASOIF Executive Director, who is nominated by the Council on the proposal of the President as an executive position but does not hold voting rights. The President and the six members are elected for four-year mandates.

Two of the three vacancies that were filled today became available following the completion of the terms of Marisol Casado and José Perurena, and the third was as a result of the sudden death last year of former FIBA Secretary General Patrick Baumann at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires.

“I am very glad that the FEI President Ingmar De Vos was elected to the ASOIF Council today”, ASOIF President Ricci Bitti said after the election. “Ingmar has been a great contributor to ASOIF’s various projects, including the Governance Task Force, Governance Support and Monitoring Unit, Role of International Federations, and I am confident he will continue to bring expertise to ASOIF’s work as a Council Member.”

About Ingmar De Vos:

A Belgian native, Ingmar De Vos was born on 5 August 1963. He holds degrees in political science, and international and European law, and started his career as an advisor to the Belgian Senate. He joined the Belgian Equestrian Federation as managing director in 1990, and held the additional role of Secretary General from 1997 to 2011.

During his time at the Belgian National Federation, Ingmar De Vos was chef de mission for the Belgian Team at all six FEI World Equestrian Games™ between 1990 and 2010 and at three Olympic Games – Sydney 2000, Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008. He is a member of the Belgian Olympic Academy. He was co-founder of the European Equestrian Federation in 2010 and was also Secretary General from 2010 until 2011, when he joined the FEI.

After three years as FEI Secretary General, Ingmar was elected as FEI President in December 2014 and then re-elected unanimously for a further four-year term at the FEI General Assembly in Bahrain in November 2018.

Ingmar De Vos was elected as a Member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) during the IOC Session in Lima (PER) in 2017 and, in 2018, was appointed member of the IOC Legal Affairs and Digital and Technology Commissions. Since 2018, he is also a member of the Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) Council and member of World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Executive Committee and Foundation Board.