LAUSANNE — FIFA President Gianni Infantino has been proposed as a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) but World Athletics head Sebastian Coe will have to wait, IOC chief Thomas Bach announced on Thursday.

Bach said Infantino will be officially put forward as a candidate to be a member in January, when he will have to face a vote from the over 100 current members of the IOC.

Bach added Coe has not been proposed for the next session after worries over "the risk of conflict of interest", adding the "door is still open" for the World Athletics head at the IOC session before next year's Tokyo Olympics.

Infantino's predecessor Sepp Blatter, who departed from the organization amid a corruption scandal that swept FIFA, was an IOC member but since succeeding him in 2015 Infantino has never been a member.

Bach also announced 30 athletes are candidates for four seats on the IOC's Athletes' Commission, which will be decided during the Tokyo Games.

Among the contenders are high jump world champion Mutaz Essa Barshim, Olympic gold-winning swimmer Federica Pellegrini, double Olympic triathlon gold winner Alistair Brownlee and Spanish basketball player Paul Gasol.

Bach, meanwhile, attempted Thursday to ease concerns over its new partnership deal with Airbnb, insisting "all our top partners respect the rules and regulations of the host country".

Home rental company Airbnb last month announced a nine-year deal to become a leading partner of the Olympics that drew strong criticism from Paris, host of the 2024 Summer Games.

City mayor Anne Hidalgo, who is up for re-election next May, sent a letter to the IOC warning Bach about the "risks" of the deal.

Paris alone has 65,000 listings on Airbnb, and there are thousands more in the nearby suburbs that will house many of the venues for the 2024 Olympics.

"All our top partners respect the rules and regulations of the host country and city, and with this agreement with Airbnb, this did not change," Bach told Thursday's press conference in Lausanne.

"We have also explained that this agreement is complementary to the offer of accommodation in hotels, traditional accommodation, and we see this as a great addition to the hotels in Paris and in France."

Hidalgo has vowed to tighten oversight of Airbnb rentals and promised to hold a vote on how home-sharing platforms should be regulated, at a time when many residents blame Airbnb for driving up rents.

French hotel owners warned they would stop working on the planning for the 2024 Olympics to protest against what they call an unfair competitor.

French hotels have long accused home rental platform Airbnb of taking advantage of minimal oversight to undercut their business, and have been lobbying authorities for a crackdown on short-term tourist rentals. — AFP