During its final meeting of 2008, the IOC Executive Board (EB) heard updates on the progress of the Games projects from the CEOs of the Organising Committees (OCOGs) of Vancouver 2010 and Sochi 2014. These reports supplemented the briefings given to the EB by the Coordination Commission Chairmen of the Beijing, Vancouver, London and Sochi Games.
Approval
The OCOG reports covered a wide range of topics related to the Games, including venue construction and project management updates. The Vancouver report, made by John Furlong, also saw VANOC ask and receive approval for, among other items, its Cultural Olympiad programme in 2010. Sochi CEO Dmitry Chernychenko was joined by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak as they underlined the development of the Sochi Games over the past few months and the strong support that the Games have within Russia.
Good progress across the board
The reports from the Coordination Commission Chairmen also pointed out the good progress that is being made across the board in all of the different Games projects. Beijing 2008 Coordination Commission Chairman Hein Verbruggen reported back to the EB on the success of the Beijing Games, as well as the successful IOC Official Debriefing of the Beijing 2008 Games, which was held in London two weeks ago.
Organising Committee
The organisation of the Olympic Games is entrusted by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of the country of the host city as well as to the host city itself. The NOC forms, for that purpose, an Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (OCOG) The OCOG must comply with the Olympic Charter, the contract entered into between the IOC, the National Olympic Committee and the host city (Host City Contract) and the instructions of the IOC Executive Board. Nowadays, the Organising Committees have turned into enormous administrative entities employing hundreds of people. The Organising Committee starts its work with a period of planning, followed by a period of organisation which culminates in the staging of the Games.