IOC President Thomas Bach confirms plans to leave office in 2025

The Olympic Movement will have a new leader next year.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach told a meeting of members on Saturday that he will not attempt to change the rules to stay in office, adding that the Olympics will be "best served with a change in leadership."

Bach has led the IOC since September 2013 and his 12-year Presidency is set to expire next year – a term limit introduced as part of reforms passed after the Salt Lake City bidding scandal 25 years ago.

Speculation has grown since last October, however, that Bach might stay on after IOC members asked him to consider changing Olympic Charter rules that would otherwise end his leadership.

The 70-year-old German ended any doubts about his plans on the penultimate day of the 2024 Paris Summer Games, noting that governance must be respected "in order to safeguard the credibility of the IOC."

The IOC now needs a new leader, he said, who can navigate an increasingly digital and politically pressured world while building strong relations with emerging powers in the "ever more influential so-called Global South."

"New times are calling for new leaders," Bach said in a speech in which he paused to hold back tears. "I, with my age, am not the best captain. I know with this decision I am disappointing many of you."

An election will be scheduled for the March 18-21 IOC meetings in Greece.

IOC membership comprises invited members including royalty from the Middle East and Europe, a current head of state – the Emir of Qatar – former diplomats and lawmakers, industrialists, leaders of sporting bodies and athletes.

The likely candidates include several members of the IOC's Executive Board, including Vice Presidents Nicole Hoevertsz of Aruba and Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr. of Spain, whose father served as IOC President for 21 years until leaving in 2001 after the Salt Lake City turmoil.

Board members Prince Feisal al Hussein of Jordan and former Olympic swimming champion Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe are also expected to be contenders.

The IOC has never had a woman serve as president in its 130-year history. One of its members, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, was the President of Croatia for five years until 2020.

Sebastian Coe, the head of track and field's governing body World Athletics, has long been seen as the most qualified contender.

Coe was a two-time Olympic champion in the 1,500 meters, led the Organizing Committee for the 2012 London Summer Games and is a former lawmaker in the British Parliament.

But Coe and Bach, who met as athlete representatives in Olympic politics in the 1980s, have not been allies in recent years. Their differences include track and field taking tougher stances than the IOC on Russia in the wake of its doping scandal and military conflict with Ukraine.

It is also unclear whether the 68-year-old Coe's candidacy would comply with the IOC's age limit of 70 for members elected since the Salt Lake City reforms.