Lausanne, Oct 8 (IANS): The election of the next president of the International Olympic Committee will be held during the 137th IOC Session which will take place from March 10 to 12 next year in Athens.

The decision was taken at the virtual meeting of the IOC Executive Board on Wednesday.

"The IOC EB also approved, in the absence of current IOC President, Thomas Bach, the directives concerning the election of the IOC President that is due to be held during the 137th IOC Session. This part of the meeting was led by First IOC Vice-President Anita DeFrantz," stated the organisation on their website.

"It was agreed that the candidatures should be declared no later than 30 November 2020. In order to avoid any risk of interference with the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, now to be celebrated in 2021, and to allow for a smooth transition, it was decided that the IOC President elected during the 137th IOC Session shall take office the day after the Closing Ceremony of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020," it added.

On July 17, Bach had confirmed at the 136th IOC Session that he is ready to run for a second term in the position.