13 Jan 2023 – Ulrich “Ueli” Maurer, the former President of the Swiss Confederation, has been elected by the IOC Session as an independent member of the IOC Ethics Commission.

Following the IOC Executive Board’s proposal in December 2022, the IOC Session unanimously elected Mr Maurer through a postal vote (74 yes, 0 no, 1 abstention). Mr Maurer’s four-year term as an independent member of the Ethics Commission started on 1 January 2023, as a successor of Mr Samuel Schmid, who is also a former President of the Swiss Confederation and had reached the end of his third and last term.

Mr Maurer was the President of the Swiss Confederation in 2013 and in 2019. He was a Swiss Federal Councillor from 2009 to 2022, Head of the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport from 2009 to 2015, and Head of the Federal Department of Finance from 2016 until his resignation from the position of Finance Minister on 31 December 2022.

The IOC Ethics Commission is chaired by the former UN Secretary-General Mr Ban Ki-moon. Of the nine members of the IOC Ethics Commission, five are prominent personalities known for their independence of spirit, competence and international reputation. The other four members of the IOC Ethics Commission are IOC Members, one of whom is an Athletes’ Commission member.