The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced they will send a delegation to Ecuador in June to help sort through the country’s difficulties with their Olympic committee (the COE).

Years of internal conflict between the government’s Ministry of Sport and the leadership of the COE has alienated the IOC (which sided with the COE) and prevented Ecuadorian teams from participating in international sporting events.

Recently, the entire leadership of the COE resigned en masse, ending the power struggle between the COE and the government. An interim COE president is now cooperating with the Ministry of Sport--and with the IOC--to make Ecuador’s sporting programs adhere to both national and international standards.

The IOC’s visit in June would have one main purpose: calling new elections for the sport federations whose leadership was in dispute. Having an internationally-observed set of federation elections would break the impasse, says COE interim president Marcelo Delgado.

In the meantime, Delgado says, teams that want to compete in international events should give the COE plenty of notice so they can negotiate on a case-by-case basis with the IOC.

The IOC executive’s is meeting in Saint Petersburg this week. This, and their need to decide a host city for the 2020 Olympics, could postpone their visit to Ecuador.

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