Education
Law, Universities of Neuchâtel and Zurich (Switzerland) and Cambridge (Great Britain); degree (1970); qualification as lawyer (1973); doctorate (1977)
Career
Independent Lawyer at the Neuchâtel Bar (Switzerland); President of the Bar in the Canton of Neuchâtel (Switzerland) (1990-1993); Judge at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS); Legal Consultant; Director of the International Center for Sports Studies (CIES); Professor then Professor Emeritus at the University of Neuchâtel
Sports practised
Rowing, ice hockey, cycling, running, skiing
Sports career
Member of the national rowing team (1968-1976); 13 times national champion in elite competition including five times in single sculls; participated in the Olympic Games in 1968 in Mexico City (bronze medal, four oars with coxswain), in 1972 in Munich (8th, four oars with coxswain) and in 1976 in Montreal (8th, quadruple sculls); 4th in the World Rowing Championships (1974) (quadruple sculls); national university ice hockey vice-champion
Sports administration
President of the Neuchâtel Rowing club (Switzerland) (1976-1980); Member of the Appeals Chamber of the Swiss Ice Hockey League (1976-1991); Secretary General (1978-1989), President (1989-2014) then Honorary President (2014-) of the World Rowing Federation (FISA); Deputy Secretary General of the Swiss Olympic Association (1985-1996); Member of the Board of Governors of the International Masters Games Association (IMGA) (1993-); President of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) (2000-2012)
Awards and distinctions
Winner of the Swiss sports merit prize for teams (1968); French Sports Academy Prize (2003); Honorary Doctor of Laws, De Montfort University, Leicester (Great Britain) (2011)
IOC History
Member of the Executive Board (2000-2012); Chair of the Coordination Commission for the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad in 2004 in Athens (2001-2004); Chair of the Coordination Commission for the Games of the XXX Olympiad in 2012 in London (2005-2012); Vice-Chair of the Eligibility Commission (1992-1998); Member as IF representative of the following Commissions: Olympic Movement (1989-1999), Evaluation for the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad in 2004 (1996-1997), Coordination for the Games of the XXVII Olympiad in 2000 in Sydney, Coordination for the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad in 2004 in Athens (2000-2001); Member of the following Commissions: Juridical (1993-2015), Medical (1995-2015), IOC 2000 (Executive Committee, 1999), IOC 2000 Reform Follow-up (2002), Sport and Law (2008-2015), Legal Affairs (2015-); Member (1994) of the Olympic Collectors’ Association then Vice-Chair (1996-1999); Vice-Chair of the International Olympic Memorabilia Federation (2000-2001)