The eyes of the sports world are focused on Costa Navarino, on the Greek coast, where the 144th IOC session has begun and will culminate on Thursday with the election of the new International Olympic Committee president.

Seven candidates for the presidency, in alphabetical order:

HRH Prince Feisal Al Hussein, Jordan, born 1964,

Lord Sebastian Coe, Great Britain, born 1959

Kirsty Coventry, Zimbabwe, born 1983

Johan Eliasch, Great Britain, born 1962,

David Lappartient, France, born 1973

Juan Antonio Samaranch, Spain, born 1959

Morinari Watanabe, Japan, born 1959

According to experts, the favorites are Spaniard Samaranch, whose father led the IOC from 1980 to 2001, British Coe, current president of the International Athletics Federation, and Olympic swimmer Kirsty Coventry, 41-year-old minister of sports and youth in Zimbabwe. If she were elected, she would be the first woman and first African president in history.

UCI President David Lappartient seems to have fewer chances, but it's best not to take anything for granted given the complicated electoral system that will be adopted: the grand electors will be called to a long series of votes, at the end of each of which the candidate with the fewest votes will be eliminated, and in case of a tie, an intermediate vote will decide who is out.

The voting takes place behind closed doors, and all members are asked to leave any electronic devices outside. The results of other candidates are kept secret until the winner is proclaimed, which adds an element of uncertainty that could last until the sixth round of voting. The only result that can interrupt the voting sequence early is if a candidate obtains an absolute majority of voters. Further complicating this very uncertain election is the fact that members who have a compatriot in the race can only vote when the latter is excluded, so paradoxically the number of voters - initially 99 (very few considering that 205 national Olympic committees are part of the IOC) - increases with each round.

The new president, who will succeed German Thomas Bach from next June 25, will serve for eight years and can potentially be re-confirmed for another four years.

It is truly difficult to make predictions at a time when politics is making its weight felt more than ever in sports with truly important issues such as the next Olympic Games (Los Angeles 2028) in the Trump-era United States, the transgender issue at the Games, the possible readmission of Russian and Belarusian athletes, and the cases that have shaken the "Wada system" in recent months, to name just a few.