'For justice'
Senior IOC official says he went public to avoid cover-up
Posted: Wednesday December 16, 1998 12:03 PM
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Hodler says he didn't want everything swept under the carpet AP |
ZURICH, Switzerland (AP) -- The senior IOC official whose
allegations of bribery and blackmail rocked the Olympic movement
said he went public because he initially feared a cover-up of the
Salt Lake City scandal.
"The feeling crept up on me that certain people are afraid of
this case and wanted to sweep everything under the carpet," Marc
Hodler was quoted as saying in Wednesday's Zurich daily Neue
Zuercher Zeitung.
"Because of various misunderstandings, I was under the
impression that some of my colleagues might try not to uncover
mistakes made by some members of the IOC and lay all the blame on
the Salt Lake City organizing committee," he said in a separate
interview with Zurich's Tages-Anzeiger daily.
"I'm not acting for Salt Lake City but for justice," he said.
Hodler, an 80-year-old senior member of the IOC executive board,
has said Salt Lake City had been "blackmailed" by agents
promising to secure votes during its successful bid for the 2002
Winter Games.
The Salt Lake bid committee offered nearly $400,000 in
scholarship funds to 13 people, including six relatives of IOC
members.
A high-level IOC panel is investigating the Salt Lake case.
On Saturday, Hodler alleged that four "agents" - including one
member of the IOC - had been involved in vote-buying schemes over
the past 10 years.
He cited supposed irregularities in the elections of at least
four Olympic cities - Atlanta; Nagano, Japan; Sydney, Australia,
and Salt Lake.
"In don't enjoy being a member of a club that has a bad
reputation," Hodler told the Neue Zuercher Zeitung.
"I'm a lawyer and, as such, I can't do anything without
proof," he added in defense of his revelations. "In contrast to
what you might believe, I'm probably the best friend of IOC
president Juan Antonio Samaranch."
Hodler said he wanted to "exert pressure'"on the IOC to change
its election procedure for Olympic cities, putting the decision in
the hands of a small group rather than the entire IOC membership.
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