Changes to the IOC's Governance During Thomas Bach's Presidency: Intense Institutional Work to Achieve Balance and Compromise

Recent changes in broadcasting, culture, economics, geopolitics, and technology have affected both the way International Olympic Committee (IOC) operates and its systemic, political, and organizational governance. These changes have created a more complex and more challenging world for international sport and led to a crisis of legitimacy for the IOC. Drastic institutional operation has hence been conducted to achieve balance and compromise by IOC for the purpose of strengthening its leadership of world sport, in response to the crisis since Thomas Bach was elected president in 2013. That is, "good governance" was taken, which included designing clear strategy route, solidifying commercial modes, using new governance principle and mechanism, etc. And, the active influence of sport was highlighted to meet the challenges, which mainly focused on the sustenance, development improvement through sport and positive legacy of Olympics. Bach's strategy, which combines careful assessment of the forces in play and deft risk management, can be considered a form of realpolitik, with similarities with neo-institutional sociological theories.