Coca-Cola satisfied with IOC's efforts
Posted: Wednesday January 13, 1999 04:47 PM
ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- One of the Olympics' oldest and best-known
sponsors said Wednesday it was satisfied with the IOC's efforts to
deal with the Salt Lake City bribery scandal.
Coca-Cola Co. officials had a "very productive" meeting
Tuesday night with IOC marketing director Michael Payne, company
spokesman Ben Deutsch said.
"We're confident that they are going to do what they said they
would do - take swift and decisive action," Deutsch said.
He said Payne answered questions and briefed Coke, a major
Olympic sponsor since 1928, about the IOC's response to allegations
of bribery in the awarding of the 2002 Winter Games.
Payne met Wednesday with officials of two other sponsors, United
Parcel Service and The Home Depot, at their Atlanta headquarters.
He launched a series of meetings this week to reassure sponsors
worried about the scandal's impact on the Olympics.
UPS spokeswoman Susan Rosenberg said the company "felt really
Comfortable" after the meeting about its sponsorship of the 2000
Summer Games in Sydney. UPS plans to decide later this year whether
to extend Olympic sponsorship past then.
She said Payne described a "very tenacious" and complex IOC
investigation that will result both in action against individuals
and in recommendations for future safeguards in the selection of
Olympic host cities.
Another Atlanta-based sponsor, Delta Air Lines, didn't have a
session with Payne but said it is following the developments.
"We're monitoring the situation," Delta spokeswoman Kay Horner
said, adding that the company was awaiting the IOC's report.
The IOC has said it will release a report on the allegations
Jan. 24. The U.S. and Salt Lake City Olympic committees also are
investigating, as is the Justice Department.
ATLANTA (AP) -- Damage control is the goal of the visit to
Atlanta by the top marketing officer of the International Olympic
Committee.
Michael Payne, IOC marketing director based in Lausanne,
Switzerland, had Tuesday night meetings set with Coca-Cola Co.
officials, and planned other meetings Wednesday at the headquarters
offices of United Parcel Service and The Home Depot.
Payne came to Atlanta to begin a series of meetings to answer
questions and give assurances to Olympic sponsors that action is
being taken to clean up the Salt Lake City corruption mess.
One corporate sponsor, US West, has said it will hold up a $5 million sponsorship payment due at the end of this month amid
investigations of bribery in the awarding of the 2002 Winter Games.
Coke spokesman Ben Deutsch said Tuesday's meeting was expected
to be lengthy, but he wasn't sure whether the company would release
any details. Coke, an Olympic sponsor since 1928 that spent some
dlrs 200 million on sponsorship and global marketing of the 1996
Atlanta Summer Games, emphasized its continued commitment.
"We believe in the Olympic movement. We're concerned about
anything that can negatively impact the Olympics," Deutsch said.
"We've expressed our concerns to the IOC, U.S. Olympic Committee
and the Salt Lake City organizing committee and have been assured
that they will take swift action to bring this situation to a
positive closure."
He said the company has been in regular contact with Olympic
officials about the allegations.
"We are very confident that they are taking the right steps,"
Deutsch said.
Coke has already contracted to sponsor both the Summer and
Winter Games through 2008. Home Depot, which became a sponsor for
the first time for the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta, has also
signed on for the Salt Lake City games as a U.S. sponsor.
But UPS, a major U.S. shipping company, hasn't decided whether
to extend its Olympic sponsorship past the 2000 Games in Sydney.
Spokeswoman Susan Rosenberg said UPS planned even before the
scandal broke to make a decision sometime this year on a Salt Lake
City sponsorship.
She said UPS wants to see action not only to clean up the Salt
Lake City mess, but to prevent a repeat with future games.
The IOC has said it will release a report on the allegations
Jan. 24. Besides the Olympic bodies' probes, the U.S. Justice
Department also is investigating the allegations that cash payments
of as much as $70,000 were given to IOC members along with
other gifts and benefits.
Former officials of the Atlanta Olympics have sharply denied
that there was any bribery involved in gaining the 1996 games for
the city.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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