The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced on Friday (Oct. 16) that it is closing 12 of its standing commissions, covering areas including human rights, gender issues, sustainability, technology, athletes' entourage, and digital engagement. The committees will be replaced by small expert working groups set up on an as-needed basis, leaving the IOC with 19 commissions after the streamlining.
In a statement, the IOC said the shift to ad hoc working groups will allow "targeted engagement on key strategic priorities and policy development."
Among the commissions being scrapped are the IOC Advisory Committee on Human Rights, chaired by Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, former deputy president of South Africa, and the commission for Gender Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. Such commissions typically comprised 10 to 30 members, who gathered at the IOC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, for annual meetings.
Notably, IOC President Kirsty Coventry, the Zimbabwean swimming great who took office in 2025, has increasingly relied on small working groups for key issues. In March, the review of the "protection of the female category" in sport was handed to a small expert panel whose membership was kept confidential, rather than to the Gender Equality, Diversity and Inclusion commission, which is now itself among those being wound down.
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