Singapore's Ng announces IOC presidency bid

International Olympic Committee (IOC) vice-president Ng Ser Miang from Singapore officially announced his candidacy for the organisation's presidency on Thursday. Ng, who is also the vice-president of his homeland's Olympic Committee, made his announcement at Paris's famous Sorbonne university after communicating his intentions to current incumbent Jacques Rogge. The Belgian, who was elected in 2001, will not be standing for re-election. "It's a great honour and privilege to announce to you in this prestigious and symbolic location my candidacy for the IOC presidency," Ng said Thursday. An IOC executive committee member since 2005, Ng is the second person after Germany's Thomas Back, also an IOC vice-president and the president of the German Olympic Committee, to announce his candidacy. Others who are expected to stand for the post include Puerto Rico's Richard Carrion, president of the IOC's finance committee, Switzerland's Rene Fasel, International Ice Hockey Federation president, former Moroccan athlete Nawal El Moutawakel, IOC vice-president, and Ukraine's pole vault legend Sergei Bubka, a member of the IOC's executive committee. Switzerland's International Rowing Federation president Denis Oswald and Taiwan's International Amateur Boxing Federation president Wu Ching-Kuo are also thought to be in the running. Candidates must declare themselves by June 10, three months before the election on September 10 during the IOC's 125th session in Buenos Aires, where the host city for the 2020 summer Olympics will also be chosen, with Tokyo, Istanbul and Madrid all vying for that honour. From: AFP