IOC eyeing Panamas controversial Olympic body

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has its eyes on Panama’s scandal ridden Olympic Committee (COP).

On Sunday,July 29 IOC  president Jacques Rogge, told Panama President Ricardo Martinelli that the IOC is "following closely" elections scheduled for December to resolve the conflict over the COP.

According to the IOC,  the meeting  between Rogge and Martinelli was "fruitful" and the Panamanian leader pledged "to respect strictly the principles and rules governing the Olympic Movement and to support the process initiated and supervised by the IOC to benefit the Olympic Movement and athletes in Panama."

The elections are intended to resolve the conflict unleashed by the current existence of two agencies each claiming responsibility for the COP, one recognized by the IOC and the other by the Panamanian courts. 

Astatement says that the IOC initiated a process to "clarify the composition of the COP of Panama in close collaboration with the International Federations concerned and to ensure that elections take place in December 2012 with the participation of all representatives of the legitimate Olympic Movement " According to the IOC, the elections must be "free, democratic, just, transparent and credible" and must take place "in accordance with the Olympic Charter, the statutes of the COP and the laws applicable in the country". Also at the meeting held outside of the Olympics venue  were COP President, Miguel Sanchiz, Panama’s IOC member Meliton Sanchez and COP Vice President and head of the London 2012 mission, Fernando Samaniego.