IOC President Thomas Bach Praises Reliance Foundation's Alignment with Olympic Values

IOC President Thomas Bach lauded Reliance Foundation and Mrs Nita M Ambani in his opening address on the opening day of the IOC Executive Board meeting in Mumbai on Thursday 12^th October.

Mr Bach said he was impressed with what he saw on his visit to Reliance Foundation Young Champs Academy in Navi Mumbai. President Bach's opening remarks on Oct 12th ahead of EB meeting.

“I had a visit together with our IOC colleague and friend Nita Ambani to their Reliance Foundation and the programmes they're offering there to the kids and youth with regard to sport and education. I'm really deeply impressed by Reliance and her team because you see kids from all over India in this centre. And most of them are coming from underprivileged families and they are being offered education and schooling. But at the same time, they are given the opportunity to train and to prepare for becoming an athlete, a high-level athlete,” Mr Bach said.

Mr Bach was especially pleased with the approach of Reliance Foundation and its Chairperson and IOC member Mrs Ambani, which was an exact reflection of Olympic values according to him.

“This is something that exactly reflects our Olympic values and our approach, which we have in our strategies. But to see it on such a scale and being done, you know, by a private entity, which is the Reliance Foundation, guided by our colleague – that’s really very, very impressive and very encouraging also for the future of sport, of Olympic sport in India,” Mr Bach added.

Earlier this week, The International Olympic Committee (IOC) along with the Olympic Museum had aligned with Reliance Foundation to build on the success of the Olympic Values Education Programme (OVEP) in India and signed a new cooperation agreement. The agreement underscores the organisations’ shared priority to promote Olympic values through sport among young people.

The new cooperation was agreed upon by IOC President Thomas Bach and Nita Ambani, IOC Member in India and Reliance Foundation Founder Chairperson, during their visit to the Reliance Foundation Young Champs (RFYC) football academy in Mumbai, which Mr Bach alluded to.

To watch the full video of the opening session click here: