Recent changes in broadcasting, culture, economics, geopolitics, and
technology have affected both the way International Olympic
Committee (IOC) operates and its systemic, political, and organisational
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. The present qualitative study provides a critical analysis of
the new governance principles the IOC has adopted in response to this
crisis since Thomas Bach was elected president in 2013. Bach’s strategy,
which combines careful assessment of the forces in play and deft risk
management, can be considered a form of realpolitik. The current paper
highlights parallels between Bach’s realpolitik approach and neoinstitutional
sociological theories on how change occurs within a sector.
Under Bach’s presidency, the IOC has carried out intense institutional
work to achieve the balance and compromise needed to strengthen its
leadership of world sport.