IOC President in Malaysia for Winter games bidding

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach on Friday arrived in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia ahead of the 128th executive board meeting.

On the agenda are the elections for a host of the 2022 Winter Games and the 2020 Youth Olympic Winter Games.

Bach was welcomed by Malaysia Olympic Council President Tunku Imran Tunku Ja’afar at the airport.

“With one year to go for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, elections for the host of the Winter Games in 2022 and the Youth Games in 2020, this meeting will definitely have a good agenda,” Bach said.

Activists have called on the IOC not to award the 2022 winter Games to Beijing saying China’s human rights record had worsened since the 2008 Olympics in the Chinese capital.

The Chinese capital and Kazakhstan’s Almaty are the only bidders for the Winter Olympics in seven years’ time.

Should Beijing win, it will be the first city to have been awarded both Summer and Winter Olympics.

The IOC has said it is not a political organisation that can interfere in domestic matters of a sovereign state but has insisted the Games are a force for good.