Olympics:It may not have been as clear cut as he would have preferred, but Pat Hickey was duly appointed to the executive committee of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) this morning. Hickey received 57 votes in his favour, with 34 opposed to the Dubliner's appointment.
Hickey was elected at a secret ballot of the IOC’s session in London’s Grosvenor House Hotel. Having been given a seat at the top table of the IOC - the executive board consists of the president Jaques Rogge, four vice-presidents and 10 other members - Hickey may now consider his position as president of the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI).
Should he choose to vacate his position in the OCI, FAI chief executive John Delaney is among the favourites to replace him. Delaney is currently the second vice-president of the OCI.
“It is a huge honour for me personally and for Ireland," Hickey said after today's vote, "and I am looking forward to playing my part as a team player on the Executive Board for the next four years.”
Hickey had a shot at the top table before but it didn’t end the way he wanted. But in the intervening years he has inched further up the IOC ladder and is now president of the European Olympic Committees, an umbrella organisation within the IOC of all the European nations. He wears many hats in the movement but another is as a member of the commission for the co-ordination of the next Olympic Games in Rio.
Britain's Craig Reedie, meanwhile, was elected as an IOC vice-president this morning. Moroccan Nawal El Moutawakel, 50, who won the inaugural women's 400 metres hurdles gold medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, was elected to the other vacant vice-president's position.