IOC bribery scandal continues
Despite Samaranch's gag, Hodler reiterates charges
Posted: Monday December 14, 1998 08:19 PM
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Marc Hodler says the last three days have been the worst of his life AP |
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) -- Under the scornful glare of his
boss, the International Olympic Committee member who uncapped the
biggest scandal in the agency's history urged his colleagues Monday
to "work for honesty."
'These have been the three worst days I have spent in my career
in sports,' said Marc Hodler, a senior IOC official who rocked the
Olympic world with allegations of bribery and blackmail.
"In times of crisis, you get to know who your friends are and
who your enemies are," he said at a news conference, alongside IOC
president Juan Antonio Samaranch.
"I've had three nights without sleep. You have
time to pray. I was praying that the wise, the good, the strong and
the brave have the courage to work for honesty in the Olympic
movement and sports in general."
Hodler, an 80-year-old Swiss member of the International Olympic
Committee's executive board, then spent the next two hours
surrounded by reporters and TV crews -- repeating most of the
allegations he first made on Saturday.
Hodler spoke again of shady "agents" -- including an IOC member
-- who promised to secure blocks of votes for payments of up to $3
million in campaigns for election of Olympic host cities.
While still refusing to identify the people involved, Hodler
provided a few more details of his allegations.
He said the IOC member who solicited payments for votes came
from Africa, and said the "worst of the agents" was based here in
the IOC's headquarters city and had unsuccessfully attempted to
become an IOC member.
This person, Hodler said, approaches bidding cities and claims
that "no city in the last 15 years has won the Olympics without my
help."
Hodler also said that one reason evidence of corruption had not
surfaced before was because losing cities often want to bid again
and don't want to make enemies.
Two hours after his round of interviews started, Hodler was
seated on a plastic chair next to a Christmas tree in the IOC
lobby. Samaranch, who had told Hodler on Sunday not to talk anymore
about the case, walked onto the mezzanine above the lobby and was
visibly annoyed to see one of his oldest lieutenants still holding
court. He grimaced, gave a dismissive wave and stalked off.
The allegations have triggered one of the gravest crises in
Olympic history. Samaranch has compared it to the political
boycotts of the 1970s and '80s and Ben Johnson's 1988 drug case.
"We have been through crises before in the Olympic movement,"
he said. "Now we are going through another crisis. ... If there
are cases of corruption, we can't permit it in the Olympic
family."
Despite calls for a full-scale investigation of all of Hodler's
allegations, Samaranch said Monday that for now, the IOC would only
investigate the Salt Lake City scandal.
The case centers on a scholarship fund set up by the Salt Lake
bidding committee, which won the rights to stage the 2002 Winter
Games. The program provided nearly $400,000 in aid to 13 people,
including six relatives of IOC members.
Salt Lake City officials apologized Sunday for the
"embarrassment" caused by the scandal, while stressing they won
the games on the merits of the bid. A high-level IOC panel is investigating the case.
Top officials of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee received a
warm welcome Monday at a long-scheduled appearance before leaders
of Winter Olympics sports federations, who "unanimously and quite
movingly expressed their support," organizing chief Frank Joklik
said.
"It was totally spontaneous and, to us, somewhat unexpected,"
Joklik said
Salt Lake officials met twice with the investigators over the
weekend. IOC vice president Dick Pound, who leads the inquiry, said
he expects to finish the investigation by the end of January.
Some officials have urged the IOC to investigate alleged
malpractice cited by Hodler in the election campaigns of Atlanta
(1996), Nagano (1998), Sydney (2000) and Salt Lake City. But Samaranch said the focus would stay on the Utah capital at least for the time being.
"If there is other proof, we will open other cases," he said.
Hodler said he thought 5 to 7 percent of the 115 IOC members
were open to bribery. He repeated his defense of the Salt Lake City scholarship
program. The Salt Lake bid committee operated a fund that provided
nearly $400,000 in aid to 13 people, including six relatives of IOC
members.
Hodler, who has described the program as a bribe to sway votes
of IOC members, said Salt Lake City was not to blame.
"For us, Salt Lake City was a victim of blackmail and not a
villain," he said. "The real villains are the agents who put the
cities in awkward positions using blackmail. ... Salt Lake City had
been forced by blackmail to give financial favors."
Hodler said he decided to go public after a senior Swiss
government official asked him about rumors of misconduct and
wondered whether Hodler had been bribed to keep quiet.
Until now, there has only been "hearsay" of bribery that would
not stand up as evidence in court, Hodler said. He said he had
heard complaints from previous unsuccessful Olympic bidders,
including Manchester, England, and Stockholm and Ostersund, Sweden.
But now there is written proof of corruption practices in the
case of the Salt Lake fund, Hodler said.
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