Youth Olympic Games: challenges and impact on the different youth sports policies of the world

It was during the IOC session in Guatemala City in July 2007 the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has decided to conceive a new sporting event for young athletes. The idea of organising the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) was purposed to the IOC executive board by Jacques Rogge, president of the IOC himself. (IOC, 2009). The first YOG will be held in Singapore in August 2010. Notwithstanding all the good and enviable intentions the IOC has in creating the YOG, there is an incontestable risk that the organisation will have some unintended and undesirable consequences. This paper wants to point out some of the challenges the IOC will be faced with in organising the first YOG. This overview indicates that specifying an excellent idea into a real organisation involves dealing with unexpected dilemmas and ethical questions