According to the IOC Statutes, the organizer of the Olympic Games is required to publish so-called competitionexplaining brochures (technical bulletins), normally at the latest about a year before the beginning of the Olympic Games. They are published in the IOC languages, English and French, as well as in the language of the host country. After studying the technical bulletins of the Olympic Games in Mexico City and Tokyo, the OC first worked out a basic scheme, similar in steps for all sports to achieve the maximum possible unity among the twenty-one brochures. Of course, the peculiarities of particular sports had to be worked into the appropriate technical bulletin separately, such as the drawings for the required exercises for men and women in gymnastics. In order to facilitate examination of the content of all the technical bulletins by the IOC and the various international sports associations, the OC first put together the German text of these twentyone brochures from 1970 on. For this reason, the previously mentioned deadline of two and a half years before the beginning of the Games, after which changes in the regulations and ordinances of the international sports associations were no longer possible, was an essential prerequisite for a meaningful beginning of the work on the content of the technical bulletins.

Upon completion of the German text, the OC began without delay to translate it into English and French. The drafts were then sent to each of the respective international sports associations with a request for critical examination, correction and approval. With few exceptions, the process of ratification by the international sports associations was completed so promptly that the IOC was able to examine the first printed designs of the technical bulletins in two sports, and, in general, accept them at its meeting in the autumn of 1971 in Luxembourg. The minor changes demanded by the IOC were incorporated by the OC that same autumn. Printing of the technical bulletins thus began so promptly that the first half of the technical bulletins could be sent to all the NOCs, the members of the IOC and the respective sports associations before the end of 1971. The remaining technical bulletins were in the hands of the same recipients by April, 1972. Only the brochures on gymnastics, with their especially difficult drawings for the required exercises for men and women, could not be completed and sent out until one month later.

The content of technical bulletins was laid out such that the names and abbreviations of all the NOCs were followed directly by the personnel chart of the IOC including the board of directors and all members. Every brochure also included the personnel chart of the OC - the board of directors and the individual department directors. In addition, they included the organization direction of the respective sports association together with the name and address of the president, the secretary general and the technical delegates, as well as the name and address of the president and secretary general of the respective national association. Finally, there followed the address, the telephone and telex numbers as well as the telegram address of the OC and the names of those in charge of sports in general and for the respective discipline. In the individual sections of the brochures, the OC gave information about the sports discipline under consideration, excerpted the most important rules from the general regulations for competition, and gave an exact account of the individual competitions and norms for qualification as well as the number of participants permitted in both the individual and team competitions. 

In accordance with the dates laid down in the IOC Statutes, every technical bulletin indicated precisely the time period for entries, the prerequisites for the doping and sex controls and - as far as required - individual contest regulations. The precise schedule to the hour was contained in the text of the brochures as well as the directors of the competitions and the legal remedies against decisions of the same. The conclusion of the book consisted of the awards prescribed by the IOC Statutes, more precise details on conventions planned by the international sports associations, and everything worth knowing about the contest and training sites, as well as the date of the ratification by the international association. In an appendix, the OC had added general information about the Olympic city, Munich, and its climate, e.g. temperature, humidity, sunshine and precipitation statistics and wind conditions. The work of coming up with a proposed draft was rather simple for the OC wherever the pertinent rules and statutes of the sport were available. The rules and statutes of all the national sports associations were naturally of aid, since they were normally developed in accordance with the principles of the international
regulations.

The translation of the German text into the two IOC languages, English and French, proved difficult because only seldom were translators available who, besides having excellent knowledge of the languages, were also familiar with the jargon of the respective Olympic sports. The OC had the best experience with women translators whose mother tongue was English or French, and who had acquired the requisite knowledge of the technical terms by years of translating the correspondence with the international sports associations. Nevertheless, the experts of the international sports associations as a rule had to reword precisely the special, technical sports expressions.

Source document: Official Report 1972   Vol. 1,  page 111