Samira Asghari, a 24-year-old Afghan woman, was among nine new International Olympic Committee members elected on Tuesday, but there was still no place for either IAAF president Sebastian Coe or FIFA head Gianni Infantino.
“She’s a lady who is doing a fantastic job to promote women’s sports in Afghanistan,” IOC president Thomas Bach said of Asghari, who made her name as captain of the Afghan women’s basketball team before holding several roles in sports administration.
“You know very well that this is not very easy for many reasons in this country.”
The two other women elected at the 133rd IOC meeting in the Argentinian capital were Daina Gudzineviciute, president of the Lithuanian Olympic committee, and Felicite Rwemarika, first vice-president of the Rwandan Olympic committee.
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Among other new members are Prince Jygyel Ugyen Wangchuck, president of the Bhutanese Olympic committee, Japan’s Morinari Watanabe, head of the International Gymnastics federation, and Brazilian Andrew Parsons, president of the International Paralympic Committee.
Giovanni Malago, Camilo Perez Lopez Moreira and William Frederick Blick, respective presidents of the Italian, Paraguyan and Ugandan Olympic committees, were also elected.
While predecessors Sepp Blatter and Lamine Diack were long-time IOC members, before both were caught up in corruption scandals, British track and field administrator Coe and world football chief Infantino again miss out.
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