Salt Lake apologizes for bribery scandal
Samaranch puts 'muzzle' on Hodler over bought votes
Posted: Sunday December 13, 1998 02:36 PM
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Hodler said he thought four agents had been involved in vote-buying in the past 10 years AP |
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) -- A powerful Olympic executive said
Sunday he might be thrown out of the International Olympic
Committee for accusing some IOC members of taking bribes. Later, he
said the IOC wouldn't expel him.
Marc Hodler, a Swiss IOC executive board member, insisted he
would not quit.
"I don't resign," he said. "But maybe I will be expelled. You
never know."
Hodler, who made the allegations Saturday, said he has since
been "muzzled" by IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch.
After further meetings with Samaranch, Hodler emerged late in
the day to say he was still an IOC member.
"I shall not be expelled, no," he said.
Asked whether he now regretted his allegations of corruption,
Hodler said, "Not at all. ... The cities have been the victim and
not the villain."
Hodler said Saturday he believed four agents -- including one IOC
member -- had been involved in vote-buying the past 10 years. He
said he thought 5 to 7 percent of the IOC members -- currently
numbering 115 -- were open to bribery.
He said there is one agent who boasts "that no city has ever
won the Olympic Games without his help."
Hodler said Sunday that Samaranch had ordered him to keep quiet.
He said he was told not to appear at a scheduled routine news
conference
Surrounded by reporters, photographers and television cameras,
Hodler covered his mouth with both hands.
"I don't have the right to say anything," he said. "I'm not
to say anything by presidential orders -- nothing."
Under Olympic rules, an IOC member can be expelled if he has
"betrayed his oath" or "neglected or knowingly jeopardized the
interests of the IOC or acted in a way which is unworthy of the
IOC."
Expulsion requires a two-thirds majority vote of the full IOC
assembly. The next IOC session is scheduled for next June in Seoul,
South Korea.
Hodler was temporarily suspended from the IOC in 1968 by former
IOC president Avery Brundage in a dispute over professionalism.
Hodler supported the right of pro skiers to compete in the games,
while Brudage was opposed.
Hodler's comments came as te leader of the Salt Lake organizing
committee apologized Sunday for the alleged rules violations during
the city's successful bid for the 2002 Winter Games.
The IOC, meanwhile, said it was prpared to investigate claims
by Hodler of bribery in the selection of Olympic host cities.
His comments came as the leader of the Salt Lake organizing
committee apologized Sunday for the alleged rules violations during
the city's successful bid for the 2002 Winter Games.
The IOC, meanwhile, said it was prepared to investigate
allegations made by Hodler of bribery in the selection of Olympic
host cities.
Frank Joklik, president of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee
(SLOC), apologized and accepted full responsibility for the
controversial scholarship program run by the group which won the
bid for the games.
The program provided nearly $400,000 in tuition and other
assistance to 13 individuals -- including six relatives of IOC
members, mostly from Africa.
Hodler has used the word "bribe" to describe the fund. A
high-level IOC panel is investigating the charges.
"With hindsight, I believe this program should not have been
part of the bid campaign," Joklik said in a prepared statement.
"At the same time, it is important to remember that Salt Lake City
won the bid on the merits, and not because of this program."
Joklik was chairman of the bidding committee at the time. The
scholarship program was under the direction of the fomer bid
president, Thomas Welch.
"Although I was not aware of the program, I must accept
responsibility," Joklik said. "I apologize to the Olympic family
and to the citizens of Utah for the embarrassment caused by the bid
committee program."
Joklik defended the program as helping young people from
developing countries to receive education and athletic training.
"However, it should not be done in a way that might possibily
appear to influence improperly the voting of IOC members."
Joklik said SLOC would cooperate fully with the IOC panel
investigating the case and would "implement all recommendations it
may develop." He said SLOC's independent ethics board would also
review the program.
"I will not hesitate to implement whatever steps are necessary
.... to maintain the integrity of the games," Joklik said.
IOC officials declined to speculate on what -- if any -- sanctions
might be taken against Salt Lake. But, for the first time, IOC vice
president Dick Pound effectively ruled out any possibility of the
games behind taken away from Utah.
Pound said the executive board expressed "complete, repeat,
complete confidence" in the organizing committee.
"We are satisfied Salt Lake City won the 2002 games on the
merit of the bid," he said.
Pound said the Salt Lake inquiry would be broadened to include
investigation of Hodler's allegations that "agents" have
approached bidding cities soliciting bribes of up to $1 million
to procure votes of IOC members.
"What were are concerned with is whether there may or may have
been inappropriate conduct by some of our members or agents
involved in the bid process," Pound said.
"We are aware there are agents and we are aware of the identity
of at least some of them," Pound said. "What they've done or not
done, we don't kow yet."
Pound indicated the inquiry could be expanded to include
Hodler's charges that the selection of at least three other Olympic
cities had been affected by corruption - Atlanta; Nagano, Japan;
and Sydney, Australia.
"One is never sure where the trail will lead," Pound said.
"At this moment, the focus is on Salt Lake City."
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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