Lausanne, 13^th June – 800 delegates from 204 National Olympic Committees are expected to attend the extraordinary general assembly that will open at the Palais de Beaulieu next Saturday to ratify the new ANOC constitution and agree policy for the Associations modernisation.

Since the election of its new president sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah (KUW), the winds of change have indeed blown strong at the Association that groups the worlds NOCs, who have all welcomed the new course.

For the event, ANOC secretary general Gunilla Lindberg and her small team has had to pull out all the stops to cope with the peaceful invasion that will be spread across as many as seven hotels. But teams from the continental secretariats will of course be there to help them.

The small town on the shores of Lake Leman, chosen by Pierre de Coubertin as the heart of Olympism, will, during the coming three days, also host many international federation presidents and delegations from the Olympic Games organising committees and candidate cities, whose reports will be a keynote event for the participants.

On the eve of the Assembly, the ANOC executive board will also meet in Lausanne, the EOC delegation for which includes president Patrick Hickey, who will be attending the meetings also in his capacity as ANOC senior vice president, EOC vice president Alexander Kozlovsky, EOC secretary general Raffaele Pagnozzi and the two elected EOC representatives, Roger Talermo (FIN) and Vlade Divac (SRB).

The 49 NOCs of Europe, other delegates and guests will be warmly welcomed, including five womens representatives from each continent, invited to ensure a greater measure of female participation within the Olympic movement.