Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) President Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah has admitted the integrity of the Olympic Games was "threatened" during 2016 but claimed there is "no doubt we will finish 2017 in a stronger position than we have begun it".
In a New Year’s message to all National Olympic Committees, Sheikh Ahmad conceded that 2016 had been a tough year for the Olympic Movement.
The Kuwaiti again stressed the urgent need for reform throughout the Movement, particularly with regards to anti-doping, but insisted "we have already begun moving in the right direction".
"While there is so much to look back on fondly in 2016, it was a year that, perhaps more than ever, reinforced the Olympic Movement’s collective need to unite together to protect the integrity of sport and the clean athletes who represent it," Sheikh Ahmad wrote.
"There were numerous allegations that shocked us all and threatened the integrity of the Olympic Games.
"There is a huge amount of work ahead of us and reform is urgently needed but we are confident we have already begun moving in the right direction."
It follows a tumultuous 12-month period in worldwide sport, which included allegations of state-sponsored doping in Russia, prompting calls for the entire nation to be banned from the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro following the publication of the first part of the McLaren Report in July.
ANOC opposed a blanket ban on Russia and was fiercely critical of the International Paralympic Committee when the body excluded all athletes from Rio 2016.
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