The battle for the most powerful job in world sport might not be on the agenda but it will dominate the first International Olympic Committee's (IOC) executive board meeting of the new millennium when it starts in Dakar today.
Anita deFrantz, the IOC's senior vice-president, announced herself last night as a candidate for the presidency which will be decided this July.
Reports on the progress of the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake and the troubled 2004 Summer Games in Athens are on the programme of the three day meeting.
But the hidden agenda contains one simple topic - who will replace outgoing president Juan Antonio Samaranch, who finally stands down this July after 21 years in charge.
The three fancied challengers will all be present - marketing supremo Dick Pound, Belgian surgeon Jacques Rogge and South Korea's Kim un Yong. They have still to declare their candidature but behind the scenes campaigning is already in full flight. They have until April 10th to announce their intentions.
Hungary's IOC member Pal Schmitt revealed late last year he wanted Samaranch's job and executive board member Anita DeFrantz is poised to put her hat into the ring. But IOC insiders don't give either Schmitt or DeFrantz a chance of victory.
Already there are concerns that the campaign might become nasty. These worries were fuelled when Samaranch, asked if the ban on members' visits and gifts in the battle to win the right to host the 2008 Games applied to the presidential chase, replied: "There are no rules."
