Walter Sieber

Walter Sieber

Walter Sieber, administrator (b at Jonschwil, Switzerland 1941). After receiving his diploma in administration from the École supérieure de commerce de Neufchâtel, Walter Sieber left Switzerland to settle in Québec in 1966. There, he pursued his studies and earned a bachelor's degree in physical education from the Université de Montréal.

Sieber's experience with the OLYMPICS began at the 1972 Munich Games where he held the position of deputy head. The following year, he joined the Montréal Olympic Organizing Committee (COJO). One year prior to the start of the Games, after the death of Pierre Charbonneau, he became the director general of sports. His administrative efforts were recognized and appreciated by the Olympic Organizing Committee (IOC), and after the Montréal Olympics Sieber was named director of the Régie des installations olympiques (Olympic Installations Board).

During the 1980s, Sieber was an advisor to the Olympic Organizing Committees for the Games in Moscow (1980) and Seoul (1988). At the time, he was also involved with the Canadian Olympic Committee as vice-president from 1985 to 2009. In 1988 and 2010, he was on the boards of the organizing committees for the Calgary and Vancouver Olympics.

For 15 years, Walter Seiber has also put his administrative and physical education talents to use as head of the Centre sportif du Collège Édouard-Montpetit in Longueuil.

He was Chef de Mission for the Canadian team at the Winter Olympics in Albertville in 1992, and advocated for the Canadian Olympic bids for Toronto (1996) and Québec City (2002) as vice-president of sports for these bids.

In 2000, Walter Sieber was charged by the IOC's Program Commission with reviewing and analyzing the program of sports, disciplines, and events in the Olympics, as well as the number of athletes per sport. The Commission makes recommendations to the IOC Executive Board and presents its reports to this international sports organization. In addition, since 2004 Sieber has been on the committee that analyzes the files of cities who submit bids for future Olympics.

Throughout the 1980s, Sieber, who is equally fluent in French, English, and German, added a new feather to his cap through his involvement in the world of international soccer. Impressed by the quality of the organization of the Montréal Olympics in 1976, the directors of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) made him general coordinator for the World Cup in 1986. Since then, Sieber has used his clockwork precision, attention to detail, and organizational abilities to contribute to the success of major world soccer events.

With such a record of accomplishment, Walter Sieber has garnered praise and commendations. In 2002, he was inducted into the Temple de la renommée du soccer québécois as a builder; in 2009, he was named a Chevalier in the NATIONAL ORDER OF QUÉBEC; and in the summer of 2010, the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in turn acknowledged his contributions.