Olympic Charter

The Olympic Charter outlines the set of rules and guidelines that are adopted by the International Olympic committee (IOC) for carrying out the Olympic Games. The Charter is the codification of the Rules, By-laws and fundamental principles that have been adopted by the IOC since its inception. It is the Olympic Charter that governs the running of the Olympic movement and sets the guidelines for conducting the Olympic Games. The Olympic Charter throughout history has been used to solve any kind of dispute during the Olympic Games. The decisions and final verdict is based on the rules and by-laws pronounced in the charter.

The official languages of the charter are French and English. At the International Olympic Committee sessions however simultaneous translations are provided in Arabic, German, Russian and Spanish. The charter was originally penned down in French and in case of any discrepancy between the French and English in the Olympic Charter; it is the charter in French that prevails. The Olympic Charter constitutes five chapters and sixty one articles that govern the Olympic Games. The Olympic Charter was last updated on July 7, 2007.

In the Olympic Charter it is clearly pronounced that it principally serves three main purposes. These are:

• The Olympic Charter, as a basic instrument of constitutional nature, sets forth and recalls the fundamental principles and essential values of Olympism.
• The Olympic Charter serves as statutes for the International Olympic Committee.
• The Olympic Charter also defines the main reciprocal rights and obligations of the three main constituents of the Olympic Movement, namely the International Olympic Committee, the International Federations and National Olympic Committees, as well as the Organizing Committees for the Olympic Games, all of which are required to comply with the Olympic Charter.