Geneva, Dec 11 (IANS) The International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Executive Board (EB) announced Wednesday that Asuncion of Paraguay, Bangkok of Thailand, and Santiago of Chile have been invited into a Targeted Dialogue to elect the host for the 2030 Youth Olympic Games (YOG).

All three are considered preferred hosts, and the IOC will now start discussions with them on preliminary proposals to reform the YOG.

“We need to have very clear clarity on what we want the Games (YOG) to be, how we want them to be produced, and really look at reshaping them so that they are fit for the future,” IOC President Kirsty Coventry said at a video conference after the EB meeting.

“No decision has been made except for moving these three into Targeted Dialogue, and we are aiming to elect a host for the 2030 Youth Olympic Games in June 2026,” she added.

IOC’s YOG Working Group will continue to study the potential and relevance of future editions of the YOG to benefit young athletes and the entire sports movement, in consultation with stakeholders such as the International Federations (IFs) as part of the Fit for the Future review process, IOC announced.

Coventry said the EB decided to nominate Iran’s badminton player Soraya Aghaei Haji Agha, a member of the IOC Athletes’ Commission, as a candidate for IOC membership, reports Xinhua.

The EB also recommended the re-election of 11 IOC Members below the age limit, the extension of the terms of office of two Members, a change of status for one Member, and the election of two Honorary Members to the 145th IOC Session in Milan, Italy, from January 31-February 2, 2026.

“Soraya Aghaei will be nominated and put forward as an IOC member. We’re very excited about that,” Coventry said. “The Ethics Commission and the EB have proposed Ms Patricia O’Brien to chair the IOC Ethics Commission for a four-year term. We proposed two other members to the IOC Ethics Commission, Mr. Karl Stoss and Mr. Kim Won-Soo. We look forward to seeing that happen during the Session.”

–IANS

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