National Olympic Committee

A national olympic committee (NOC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee, NOCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the Olympic Games. They may nominate cities within their respective areas as candidates for future Olympic Games. NOCs also promote the development of athletes and training of coaches and officials at a national level within their geographies.

National Olympic Committees

As of 2014 there are 205 NOCs, representing both sovereign states and other geographical areas. 192 of the 193 member states of the United Nations have IOC-recognized National Olympic Committees. Palestine is the only United Nations observer state that has a NOC. The NOC of the Cook Islands, a state in free association with New Zealand whose capacity to participate in international organizations has been recognized by the United Nations Secretariat,[1][2] has also been recognized. Two states with limited recognition, Kosovo and Taiwan designated as Chinese Taipei by the IOC, have IOC recognized NOCs.

In addition to these 196 NOCs, there are 9 dependent territories with their own NOC:

Prior to 1996, rules for recognising separate countries within the IOC were not as strict as those within the United Nations, which allowed these territories to field teams separately from their sovereign state. Following an amendment to the Olympic Charter in 1996, NOC recognition can only be granted after recognition as an independent state by the international community.[5] The only states that have been recognized by the United Nations and which thus qualify to participate in the future are UN member state South Sudan, which gained its independence on 9 July 2011 and does not yet have a National Olympic Committee,[6] the Vatican City, a UN observer, and Niue, a state in free association with New Zealand like the Cook Islands. Other disputed states face obstacles to being recognized by the IOC. Dependent territories such as Curaçao, the Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, and Macau can no longer be recognised by the IOC, and athletes from those territories can only participate in the Olympics as part of their parent nation's national team. However, the rule does not apply retroactively, so dependent territories which were recognised before the rule change are allowed to continue sending separate teams to the Olympics. Also, the Faroe Islands and Macau have their own Paralympic teams.

Divisions

The NOCs are all members of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC), which is also split among five continental associations:

Continent Association NOCs Oldest NOC Newest NOC
  Africa
 Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa 53 Egypt Egypt (1910) Eritrea Eritrea (1999)
  America
 Pan American Sports Organization 41 United States United States (1894) Dominica Dominica (1993)
Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Kitts and Nevis (1993)
Saint Lucia Saint Lucia (1993)
  Asia
 Olympic Council of Asia 44[7] Japan Japan (1912) East Timor Timor-Leste (2003)
  Europe
 European Olympic Committees 50 France France (1894) Kosovo Kosovo (2014)
  Oceania
 Oceania National Olympic Committees 17 Australia Australia (1895) Tuvalu Tuvalu (2007)

See the article for each continental association for the complete lists of all NOCs.

List of NOCs by recognition date

Below is a chronological list of the 205 NOCs recognized by the International Olympic Committee, since its foundation in 1894. Many of these committees were founded many years before their official recognition, while others were immediately accepted after being founded.

Only extant states are listed. Former states (e.g. The Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Netherlands Antilles, etc.), are not listed, only the current states derived from them (for example the Czech Olympic Committee representing Bohemia was created and recognized in 1899. It was later transformed into the Czechoslovak Olympic Committee, and, after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, was re-recognized in 1993).

Date of recognition NOCs
1894 France France United States United States
1895 Australia Australia Germany Germany Greece Greece Hungary Hungary
1900 Norway Norway
1905 Denmark Denmark United Kingdom Great Britain
1906 Belgium Belgium
1907 Canada Canada Finland Finland
1909 Portugal Portugal
1910 Egypt Egypt
1911 Turkey Turkey
1912 Austria Austria Japan Japan Luxembourg Luxembourg Netherlands Netherlands Serbia Serbia Spain Spain Switzerland Switzerland
1913 Sweden Sweden
1914 Romania Romania
1915 Italy Italy
1919 New Zealand New Zealand Poland Poland
1922 Republic of Ireland Ireland
1923 Argentina Argentina Mexico Mexico Uruguay Uruguay
1924 Bulgaria Bulgaria Haiti Haiti
1927 India India
1929 Philippines Philippines
1934 Chile Chile
1935 Brazil Brazil Iceland Iceland Liechtenstein Liechtenstein Venezuela Venezuela
1936 Afghanistan Afghanistan Bermuda Bermuda Bolivia Bolivia Costa Rica Costa Rica Jamaica Jamaica Malta Malta Peru Peru
1937 Sri Lanka Sri Lanka
1947 Guatemala Guatemala Iran Iran Burma Myanmar Panama Panama South Korea South Korea
1948 Colombia Colombia Guyana Guyana Iraq Iraq Lebanon Lebanon Pakistan Pakistan Puerto Rico Puerto Rico Singapore Singapore Syria Syria Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago
1950 Thailand Thailand
1951 Hong Kong Hong Kong Nigeria Nigeria
1952 The Bahamas Bahamas Ghana Ghana Indonesia Indonesia Israel Israel
1953 Monaco Monaco
1954 Cuba Cuba Dominican Republic Dominican Republic Ethiopia Ethiopia Malaysia Malaysia
1955 Barbados Barbados Fiji Fiji Kenya Kenya Liberia Liberia
1956 Honduras Honduras Uganda Uganda
1957 North Korea North Korea Tunisia Tunisia
1959 Albania Albania Ecuador Ecuador Morocco Morocco Nicaragua Nicaragua San Marino San Marino Sudan Sudan Suriname Suriname
1960 Taiwan Taiwan
1962 Benin Benin El Salvador El Salvador Mongolia Mongolia
1963 Cameroon Cameroon Ivory Coast Côte d'Ivoire Jordan Jordan Libya Libya Mali Mali Nepal Nepal Senegal Senegal
1964 Algeria Algeria Chad Chad Madagascar Madagascar Niger Niger Republic of the Congo Congo Sierra Leone Sierra Leone Zambia Zambia
1965 Central African Republic Central African Republic Guinea Guinea Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia Togo Togo
1966 Kuwait Kuwait
1967 Belize Belize United States Virgin Islands Virgin Islands
1968 Democratic Republic of the Congo Democratic Republic of the Congo Gabon Gabon Malawi Malawi Tanzania Tanzania
1970 Paraguay Paraguay
1972 Burkina Faso Burkina Faso Lesotho Lesotho Mauritius Mauritius Somalia Somalia Swaziland Swaziland
1974 Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea
1975 Andorra Andorra
1976 Antigua and Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda Cayman Islands Cayman Islands The Gambia Gambia
1978 Cyprus Cyprus
1979 Bahrain Bahrain Laos Laos Mauritania Mauritania Mozambique Mozambique China People's Republic of China Seychelles Seychelles Vietnam Vietnam
1980 Angola Angola Bangladesh Bangladesh Botswana Botswana Qatar Qatar United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates Zimbabwe Zimbabwe
1981 Yemen Yemen
1982 British Virgin Islands British Virgin Islands Oman Oman
1983 Bhutan Bhutan Samoa Samoa Solomon Islands Solomon Islands
1984 Brunei Brunei Djibouti Djibouti Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea Grenada Grenada Rwanda Rwanda Tonga Tonga
1985 Maldives Maldives
1986 Aruba Aruba Cook Islands Cook Islands Guam Guam
1987 American Samoa American Samoa Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Vanuatu Vanuatu
1991 Estonia Estonia [lower-alpha 1] Latvia Latvia [lower-alpha 1] Lithuania Lithuania [lower-alpha 1] Namibia Namibia South Africa South Africa
1993 Armenia Armenia Azerbaijan Azerbaijan Belarus Belarus Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina Burundi Burundi Cape Verde Cape Verde Comoros Comoros Croatia Croatia Czech Republic Czech Republic Dominica Dominica Georgia (country) Georgia Kazakhstan Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan Moldova Moldova Republic of Macedonia Macedonia Russia Russia Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Lucia São Tomé and Príncipe São Tomé and Príncipe Slovakia Slovakia Slovenia Slovenia Tajikistan Tajikistan Turkmenistan Turkmenistan Ukraine Ukraine Uzbekistan Uzbekistan
1994 Nauru Nauru
1995 Cambodia Cambodia Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau State of Palestine Palestine
1997 Federated States of Micronesia Federated States of Micronesia
1999 Eritrea Eritrea Palau Palau
2003 Kiribati Kiribati East Timor Timor-Leste
2006 Marshall Islands Marshall Islands
2007 Montenegro Montenegro Tuvalu Tuvalu
2014 Kosovo Kosovo

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Latvia's NOC was recognized by the IOC in 1923, while Estonia's and Lithuania's NOCs were recognized in 1924. However, following the Soviet occupation of the Baltic states their NOCs were disbanded. When they regained their independence their NOCs were re-recognized in 1991.

Unrecognized National Olympic Committees

The Macau Sports and Olympic Committee was founded in 1987 and has attempted to enroll to the IOC since its foundation, but is still not officially recognized and thus no athlete has participated in the Olympic Games under the name "Macau, China". It has, however, participated in the Paralympic Games. The Faroe Islands have a recognised National Paralympic Committee.[8]

Other existing countries/regions with unrecognized Olympic committees: Catalonia,[9] Gibraltar,[10] French Polynesia,[11] Niue,[12] Somaliland,[13] New Caledonia,[14] Kurdistan,[15][16] Northern Cyprus,[17] Abkhazia,[18] Native Americans,[19][20] the Northern Mariana Islands, Anguilla, Montserrat, and Turks & Caicos Islands.[21] South Ossetia intends to establish a National Olympic Committee too.[22] Representatives from the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic would take part in Armenia’s National Olympic Committee.[23]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to National Olympic Committees.

References

  1. ↑ "Organs Supplement", Repertory of Practice (PDF) (8), UN, p. 10
  2. ↑ The World today (PDF), UN
  3. ↑ "Executive Board concludes first meeting of the new year". olympic.org ("Official website of the Olympic movement"). 13 January 2011. Retrieved 13 January 2011.
  4. ↑ "Curtain comes down on 123rd IOC Session". Olympic.org.
  5. ↑ "Overseas Territories (3rd February 2012)". Publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  6. ↑ Olympics. "London 2012 Olympics: South Sudan 'can compete at Games'". Telegraph. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  7. ↑ The OCA includes 45 NOCs; the Macau Sports and Olympic Committee is not recognized by the IOC and Macau does not compete at the Olympic Games.
  8. ↑ "Ítróttasamband Føroya | Just another WordPress weblog". Isf.fo. Retrieved 16 August 2010.
  9. ↑ Hargreaves, John (2000). Freedom for Catalonia? : Catalan nationalism, Spanish identity and the Barcelona Olympic Games ([Online-Ausg.]. ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521586153.
  10. ↑ "www.andalucia.com". www.andalucia.com. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
  11. ↑ Friedrich, Walter L. "Questia, Your Online Research Library". Accessmylibrary.com. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  12. ↑ "Full Page - Niue Island Sports Association and National Olympic Committee - FOX SPORTS PULSE". Sportingpulse.com. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  13. ↑ "Website ka wasaaradda Dhalinyaradda Iyo Ciyaaraha Somaliland - Homepage". Somalilandolympics.org. 18 January 2010. Retrieved 16 August 2010.
  14. ↑ "New Caledonia National Olympic Committee". SportingPulse. Retrieved 16 August 2010.
  15. ↑ "Display Article". Kurdishglobe.net. 16 January 2010. Retrieved 16 August 2010.
  16. ↑ http://www.sportcountries.org/fileadmin/user_upload/documents/conference_2008/INSCRITS_DEFINITIU.pdf[]
  17. ↑ {{Turkish Cypriots denied access to London Olympics 2012}}
  18. ↑ Smoltczyk, Alexander (2009-08-27). "The ABC Republic: Abkhazia Attempts to Invent Itself - SPIEGEL ONLINE". Spiegel.de. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  19. ↑ "Native Americans seek recognition". Nativevoices.org. 27 February 2006. Retrieved 16 August 2010.
  20. ↑ "Jim Thorpe’s Sons Bolster Native American Olympic Dream : Fri, 10 Jul 2009 : eNewsChannels". Enewschannels.com. 10 July 2009. Retrieved 16 August 2010.
  21. ↑ "CANOC Members". canoc.net. Retrieved 16 August 2010.
  22. ↑ "В Южной Осетии продолжат работу над созданием национального олимпийского комитета - Политика, выборы, власть - Новости - ИА REGNUM". Regnum.ru. Retrieved 2014-01-23.
  23. ↑ "Armenia Karabakh Ministers Sign Accord | Asbarez Armenian News". Asbarez.com. 1999-02-04. Retrieved 2014-01-23.