The Olympic System: Toward a Geopolitical Approach

2.1  The Search for a Legal Status Compatible  

with Its International Mission 

One of the fundamental principles of international relations is mutual recogni-

tion: in order to interact, actors must agree to have relations with other actors 

and thus recognize their existence and status. To this end, from the beginning, 

the IOC made its universal mission clear by setting the goal of spreading sport 

and its values throughout the world. The IOC therefore needed a status compa-

tible with its objectives. Initially, the IOC was an association founded in France in 

1894. In 1915, Coubertin transferred it to Switzerland, a country that remained 

neutral while war raged in Europe. When this transfer occurred, the association’s 

legal nature had to be addressed when the IOC applied for planning approval for  

office space in the municipality of Lausanne. The municipality informed Coubertin 

that the IOC would need to reformulate certain articles in its statutes and enroll 

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