Manchester official says IOC members tried to cash in
Posted: Wednesday December 16, 1998 11:40 AM
LONDON, England (Reuters) -- An official involved in
Manchester's two failed Olympic bids has said some International
Olympic Committee (IOC) members tried to make money out of
visits to the northern English city.
Graham Stringer, former leader of Manchester city council
and now a member of parliament, told the Times newspaper on
Wednesday that one IOC member had sought 12,000 pounds (US$20,170)
reimbursement for money allegedly stolen from his hotel room.
"When we said we would get the police (to investigate the
theft), he did not seem keen," he said.
"Most of the negotiations were conducted with me and things
became fairly fraught. The tune of the conversation was that the
money should be replaced."
Stringer said another IOC member had his air fare paid in
cash by Manchester when he had also had it paid by the IOC.
"There was a long rigmarole and eventually we got our money
back," he said.
The parliamentarian said that Manchester, who bid for the
1996 and 2000 Olympics, had been scrupulous in following IOC
guidelines on gifts to members.
Senior IOC official Marc Hodler rocked the Olympic movement
last week when he claimed that agents had been trying for a
decade to make cash for votes deals with bidding cities.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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