It also faced surprisingly sharp criticism from other international sports federations, which accused Mr. Coe of failing to consult them before taking unilateral action.
“This is not a discussion about prize money, because prize money has been around for decades,” Bach said during an online media roundtable on Friday.
“In 1976, my (fencing) teammates and I received a gold medal prize through a foundation supported by the (German) National Olympic Committee. Until then, this was more or less common among NOCs. It is a common practice.”
Bach said that while sponsors, governments and private organizations provide funding to athletes for a successful Olympics, the role of international sports federations goes beyond that.
“The question is fundamentally how best to support athletes,” Bach said, adding that the organization reinvests 90 per cent of its profits and supports national Olympic committees and international federations. (IF) is the main beneficiary.
“The NOC and the IF are the main recipients of this funding, a share of the commercial success of the Games,” said Bach.
He said that while the NOC's role was to bring well-prepared athletes to the tournament, the IF confirmed that any investment was aimed at closing the quality gap between athletes. said it is necessary to do so.
“The role of the IF…is that we must make every effort to bridge the gap between players from advantaged and disadvantaged countries,” Bach said.
“This is where this discussion (about the WA decision) comes from,” he said.
Bach said he hoped the Paris Games, which open on July 26, would be safe and successful despite the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, and said he expected protests at stadiums and athletes to take political action. He said that he does not expect them to refuse to play matches against tournaments from other countries. .
“All indicators show that the whole world wants to participate and that the athletes coming will compete in full respect of the Olympic Charter.”
The IOC supports both the Israeli and Palestinian Olympic committees, and if Palestinian athletes fail to qualify they will receive invitations as part of the Games' universal quota.
“This is what we are working on and this is why we support both NOCs and especially support Palestinian athletes who are not eligible in the arena,” Bach said.
“And if they fail to qualify, we will offer them an invitation to participate on an equal basis in Paris, like other NOCs who have not qualified.”
He said isolated calls to ban Israeli and Palestinian athletes from participating were unfounded.
“Neither the Israeli NOC nor the Palestinian NOC violates the Olympic Charter the way the Russian Olympic Committee does,” Bach said.
The Russian Olympic Committee was suspended last year after it recognized regional associations from four regions annexed from Ukraine.
Athletes from Russia and Belarus will compete in Paris, but they will not carry national flags, anthems or national emblems, and will compete as neutral nations.
