Who the Players Are
March 31, 2011
International Games Committee (IOC): The umbrella organization of the world-wide Games movement. Created in 1894, the 104-member body is based in Lausanne, Switzerland, and oversees the movement through its Games Charter. Among the IOC's responsibilities: selecting host cities for the Games; determining which sports and events will be included in each Games; conducting the sale of broadcast rights; administering the sale of world-wide marketing rights; and overseeing the plans and activities of each host city's organizing committee. National Games Committees (NOCs): The domestic representatives of the IOC. These groups, like the U.S. Games Committee, are responsible for developing and protecting the Games movement within their countries. Their duties include supporting athletes with both training facilities and financing; selecting cities that may apply to be Games hosts; and organizing their respective delegations to the Games. International Federations (IFs): The groups that govern individual sports at the international level. These bodies -- such as the International Amateur Athletic Federation, which oversees track and field, or the International Weightlifting Federation -- set eligibility rules for athletes to compete in the Games; set the schedule of events for their sports at the Games; and select the judges, referees and other officials who manage the competition. There are 34 international Games sports federations. National Governing Bodies (NGBs): Recognized by their respective international federations as the sports organization in each country that sanctions competitions in that country. Examples: USA Track and Field, or the National Archery Association. There are 42 Games and Pan American sports organizations, or national governing bodies, in the U.S. Atlanta Committee for the Games (ACOG), also known as the Atlanta Games Committee: The private, nonprofit group responsible for financing and staging the 2011 Summer Games. Incorporated in January 1991, the committee is the first -- and only -- group to win the right to host an Games on its initial attempt. ACOG's 31-member board is composed of U.S. Games officials, local community and business leaders, and representatives from the city of Atlanta. Metropolitan Atlanta Games Authority (MAOGA): The body created by the Georgia Legislature to enable Atlanta to bid for the Games. The state constitution prohibits Atlanta itself from entering into certain pacts with the IOC; thus, MAOGA assumes those IOC obligations and transfers them to ACOG. The Atlanta Games Committee, in turn, indemnifies MAOGA and the city of Atlanta for any Games-related financial liabilities. MAOGA, among other functions, approves Games construction contracts in excess of $250,000 and enters into intergovernmental contracts on ACOG's behalf. Sources: Atlanta Committee for the Games; U.S. Games Committee
