A National Olympic Committee (NOC) is a national constituent of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee, NOCs are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the Olympic Games. They may nominate cities within their respective areas as candidates for future Olympic Games. NOCs also promote the development of athletes and the training of coaches and officials at a national level within their geographies.
Prior to 1996, rules for recognizing dependent territories or constituent countries as separate countries within the IOC were not as strict as those within the United Nations, which allowed these territories to field teams separately from their sovereign state. Following an amendment to the Olympic Charter in 1996, NOC recognition can only be granted after recognition as an independent country by the international community.[15] Since the rule does not apply retroactively, the dependent territories and constituent countries which were recognized before the rule change are allowed to continue sending separate teams to the Olympics,[15] while the Faroe Islands[16] and Macau[17] send their own Paralympic teams.
The only state which thus qualifies to participate in the future is the Vatican City, a UN observer state. Niue, an associated state of New Zealand, could also be eligible as it conducts its own foreign relations and participates independently in UN specialized agencies and treaties,[18] though this is unclear.[19] Currently, all other remaining states are ineligible to join the IOC as they are not recognized by a majority of United Nations member countries.[20] Constituent countries and dependent territories such as Curaçao, the Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, Greenland, Macau, New Caledonia and French Polynesia can also no longer be recognized, so athletes from these territories can only participate in the Olympics as part of their parent nation's national team. This rule also applies to territories experiencing a change in status – the Netherlands Antilles Olympic Committee was dissolved at the 123rd IOC session in July 2011 as the Netherlands Antilles ceased to exist in 2010.[21][22]
For those countries and territories that are part of the Commonwealth of Nations, their National Olympic Committees usually also serve as the members of the Commonwealth Games Association, though not for the constituent countries of the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), nor for Canada or Australia, who maintain separate organisations for Commonwealth and Olympic sport. For the other Commonwealth members, their NOCs are responsible for organising and overseeing their national teams at the Commonwealth Games.[23][24]
7 National Olympic Committees who are recognised by their continental Olympic associations, but are not recognised by the International Olympic Committee (Italics).[citation needed]
The ANOC members are eligible to enter the Olympic Games. Some National Olympic Committees who are members of a continental Olympic association but not ANOC members compete in continental-level and subregional-level tournaments. These committees, however, are not allowed to participate in the Olympic Games.
The five continental Olympic associations are:[citation needed]
While not continental unions in themselves, the Union of Arab National Olympic Committees (UANOC) and International Committee of Mediterranean Games (CIJM) organize multi-sport events between Arabic-speaking countries and Mediterranean countries respectively.[citation needed] All 22 National Olympic Committees that form the UANOC and the 26 from CIJM are also members of either the ANOCA, EOC or OCA and are eligible to send their athletes to either the African, European or Asian Games. National Olympic Committees from the UANOC and CIJM are noted in the list below.[citation needed]
1: National Olympic Committee is a member of the UANOC.
2: National Olympic Committee is a member of the CIJM.
3: National Olympic Committee is also National Commonwealth Games Association
1: National Olympic Committee is a member of the UANOC.
2: National Olympic Committee is a member of the OCA but not an ANOC member.
3: Official name used by the IOC, ANOC and OCA for the Republic of China (Taiwan).
4: National Olympic Committee is a member of the CIJM.
5: National Olympic committee also the national Commonwealth Games Association.
1: Israel was a member of the OCA, but was expelled from the organization between 1952 and 1981. Joined the EOC in 1994.
2: National Olympic Committee is a member of the CIJM.
3: National Olympic committee also the national Commonwealth Games Association.
4: National Olympic Committee is suspended by the IOC.[30]
^"Faroe Islands". International Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
^"Macao, China". International Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 12 February 2023.
^"Status of Treaties – Niue". United Nations Treaty Collection. 2 December 1975. Archived from the original on 10 June 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
^"Niue". insidethegames.biz. 30 October 2012. Archived from the original on 29 October 2023. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
^"127th IOC Session comes to close in Monaco". International Olympic Committee. 9 December 2014. Archived from the original on 4 January 2015. Retrieved 6 August 2016. The NOC of Kosovo met the requirements for recognition as outlined in the Olympic Charter. These include the sport and technical requirements as well as the definition of "country" as defined in Rule 30.1 – "an independent State recognised by the international community". Kosovo is recognised as a country by 108 of the 193 UN Member States.
^Hargreaves, John (2000). Freedom for Catalonia? : Catalan nationalism, Spanish identity and the Barcelona Olympic Games ([Online-Ausg.]. ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN9780521586153.
^"andalucia.com". andalucia.com. Archived from the original on 18 December 2017. Retrieved 20 June 2012.