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National Olympic Committee · Dominican Republic

COD — Comité Olímpico Dominicano

The Dominican Republic's National Olympic Committee, recognised by article 54 of Ley 356-05 and funded by a statutory 2 per cent of the sports ministry's budget; it entered the host delegation at the Santo Domingo 2026 Games.
✓ Last reviewed: September 2026
First constituted1946, per Olympedia; the committee's own site dates its establishment to 15 February 1962
IOC recognition1962, per Olympedia
HeadquartersAvenida Pedro Henríquez Ureña 107, Santo Domingo
PresidentGaribaldy Bautista, elected 1 December 2022
Secretary generalLuis Chanlatte
Statutory basisLey 356-05 General de Deportes, arts. 54, 57 and 58
Statutory fundingNot less than 2 per cent of the sports ministry's approved budget, per art. 57
Next electoral assemblyProposed for 2 December 2026, per the convocation of September 2026

What is the Comité Olímpico Dominicano?

The Comité Olímpico Dominicano, COD, is the Dominican Republic's National Olympic Committee. Its own site describes it as the governing body representing Dominican sport before the International Olympic Committee and overseeing the country's participation in the Olympic Games, the Pan American Games and the Central American and Caribbean Games.[1]

Dominican law gives the committee a defined legal form. Article 54 of Ley 356-05, the Ley General de Deportes, describes the COD as "una entidad privada, sin fines de lucro, dotado de personalidad jurídica", charges it with registering Dominican athletes for the Olympic, Pan American and Central American and Caribbean Games, and vests in it the exclusive representation of the country before the IOC together with exclusive control of the five interlocking rings and Olympic terminology within the country.[2]

That combination — a private association whose powers are set out in a statute — is the standard NOC position, and it matches Rule 27 of the Olympic Charter, which gives NOCs "the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games" and makes each NOC responsible to the IOC for the observance of the rules on Olympic properties in its country.[9]

What does it do?

The COD enters the national team, recognises and disciplines national federations, and holds the Olympic marks. Article 24 of Ley 356-05 requires the state sports authority to collaborate in all respects with the COD so that it may fulfil its mission, and article 58 places the Centro de Alto Rendimiento del Ensanche La Fe under COD administration for the preparation of elite athletes and international delegations.[2]

Its recognition function has been contested in court. The committee suspended five member federations in 2023 — badminton, fencing, modern pentathlon, surfing and precision shooting — for regulatory breaches; badminton was reinstated in 2024, and fencing and modern pentathlon later cleared. A first-instance court annulled the suspension resolutions on 3 April 2025, and on 30 January 2026 an appeal court confirmed that decision and awarded damages in part. The COD states that the resulting freeze on its bank accounts and those of nine federations is a temporary blockage rather than a lawful embargo because no damages award is final, and that the nine federations whose accounts are frozen were not parties to the litigation.[7]

The committee's stated position in that dispute is that it is obliged to apply the Olympic Charter requirement that only federations recognised by their international governing body may hold membership.[7] [9] This page reports the litigation and the committee's account of it; it does not resolve the dispute, which on the sourcing retrieved remains live, and it bears on team selection appeals.

When was it founded and when was it recognised by the IOC?

Two dates are in circulation and both appear to be correct for different events. Olympedia records that a Dominican National Olympic Committee was first established in 1946, that it was re-established in its present form on 15 February 1962, and that the IOC recognised it in 1962.[3] The committee's own site gives 15 February 1962 as its establishment date and does not carry the 1946 body.[1]

On the sourcing retrieved this page treats 1946 as a first constitution, 15 February 1962 as the re-establishment the committee itself dates from, and 1962 as the year of IOC recognition. It could not retrieve an IOC instrument giving a day and month for the recognition, and states none.

The committee's offices are at Avenida Pedro Henríquez Ureña 107 in Santo Domingo.[1] Dominican Olympic participation began at the 1964 Games, and the country's Olympic medals have come principally in athletics and boxing, with further medals in taekwondo, weightlifting and baseball.[3]

How is it funded and governed?

Funding is fixed by statute. Article 57 of Ley 356-05 requires the national budget to allocate the COD not less than two per cent of the budget approved for the state sports authority, with additional extraordinary funding through the executive in Olympic years.[2]

Actual transfers are larger in a home-Games year. The Ministerio de Deportes completed a delivery of RD$893 million to the COD by 20 May 2026 — RD$743.65 million in four earlier tranches and a final RD$150 million on that date — stated by the minister to cover all preparation stages for the roughly 850 Dominican competitors at the Santo Domingo 2026 Games.[6]

Governance is by assembly of the member federations. Garibaldy Bautista was elected president on 1 December 2022 by the federations holding voting rights, defeating the incumbent Antonio Acosta; the reported vote figures in that account are not internally consistent with the stated electorate and are not repeated here.[5] Luis Chanlatte is secretary general. An ordinary general assembly is convened for 16 September 2026 to approve the 2027 programme and budget, appoint an electoral commission and propose 2 December 2026 as the date of the electoral assembly.[4] A joint COD and ministry proposal to amend Ley 356-05 was announced in October 2020; this page found no enacted amendment and states none.[10]

Which Games does it enter, and what does it organise?

The COD enters Dominican teams in the Olympic Games, the Pan American Games and Junior Pan American Games run by Panam Sports, the Central American and Caribbean Games owned by Centro Caribe Sports, the Youth Olympic Games and the Parapan American Games where entry is through the national Paralympic structure.[1] [2]

Santo Domingo hosted the XXV Central American and Caribbean Games from 24 July to 8 August 2026, the centennial edition and the city's second after 1974. Panam Sports records more than 6,000 athletes from 37 nations across some 40 sports and 53 disciplines, and reports the Dominican Republic's best result at the Games, which its own account puts at 150 medals including 46 gold.[8] The medal placing given in that report could not be cross-checked against an official table and is not repeated here.

The committee is not the owner of those Games — Centro Caribe Sports is — and this page could not retrieve the constituting instrument of the Santo Domingo 2026 organising committee, so it does not state what share of the organisation the COD held.[8] Dominican professional sport outside the Olympic chain includes LIDOM and the Caribbean Series, which fall under the professional and amateur divide rather than under the NOC.

Which federations are its members?

Membership is the national federations. The account of the 2022 presidential election describes 39 national sports federations as holding voting rights at that point.[5] The committee's September 2026 convocation refers to representatives of the member federations affiliated to the COD without giving a count, and this page does not state a current number.[4]

The composition requirement comes from Rule 28 of the Olympic Charter, which obliges an NOC to include all national federations affiliated to the international federations governing sports on the Olympic programme, and provides that the voting majority of the NOC and of its executive body must consist of votes cast by those national federations.[9] The COD's stated ground for the 2023 suspensions — that membership requires recognition by the relevant international federation — is an application of the same rule.[7]

No Dominican national federation has its own page on this site; they are named in plain text. They include the Federación Dominicana de Asociaciones de Atletismo in athletics, the Federación Dominicana de Boxeo in boxing and the Federación Dominicana de Voleibol in volleyball. Regional and continental bodies in which those federations sit — CCCAN, CSV and CONCACAF among them — operate alongside the NOC, not beneath it.[9]

References

  1. Comité Olímpico Dominicano — official site. Accessed September 2026.
  2. Ley 356-05 General de Deportes (Dominican Republic), arts. 24, 54, 57 and 58. Accessed September 2026.
  3. Olympedia — Dominican Republic (DOM). Accessed September 2026.
  4. El Nacional — COD convoca asamblea general para el 16 de septiembre. Accessed September 2026.
  5. Z101 Digital — Garibaldy Bautista, nuevo presidente del Comité Olímpico Dominicano, 1 December 2022. Accessed September 2026.
  6. Infobae — El Ministerio de Deportes completa la entrega de fondos al Comité Olímpico Dominicano, 20 May 2026. Accessed September 2026.
  7. Comité Olímpico Dominicano — COD emite comunicado sobre situación federaciones deportivas y cuentas embargadas. Accessed September 2026.
  8. Panam Sports — Santo Domingo 2026: the successful and historic centennial Games come to a close. Accessed September 2026.
  9. International Olympic Committee — Olympic Charter, Rules 27 and 28 (in force as from 30 January 2025, PDF). Accessed September 2026.
  10. MIDEREC — Miderec y COD presentarán propuesta conjunta para modificación de la Ley General de Deportes, 13 October 2020. Accessed September 2026.