Business not bribery
Knight says Sydney should not be stripped of Olympics
Posted: Sunday January 24, 1999 12:03 PM
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Knight says that Sydney's preparations will go ahead full steam AP |
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- Suggestions that Sydney should be
stripped of the 2000 Olympics because of bribery allegations were
"absolutely crackpot," a spokesman for Olympics Minister Michael
Knight said Sunday.
As Olympic chiefs prepared for discussions on the scandal in
Lausanne, Switzerland, Knight and acting Prime Minister Tim Fischer
said preparations for the Sydney Games were proceeding full steam
ahead.
The spokesman for Knight said the minister had full confidence
in Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates, who pledged
an extra US$70,000 to two African nations to help ensure the
success of Sydney's host city bid in 1993.
"There's no way in the world that Sydney is going to give the
Games up," the spokesman said. "Any idea that Sydney will not
host the Games is absolutely crackpot."
Australia's senior International Olympic Committee member
Kevan Gosper will ask the organization to reaffirm Sydney's right
to stage the Games at the Lausanne meeting.
He said Saturday that the IOC would probably decide to order a
full-scale investigation into Sydney's bid -- similar to the inquiry
into the Salt Lake Games.
On Sunday, Coates said the grants were to African Olympic
committees for their athletes and coaches and in many cases the
countries involved had not drawn down all the fund.
"It's no more of a bribe than the 30 million dollars (US$19
million) we are paying for the airfares to get them here
and no different to what our politicians do going into every
election where they promise a road or a dam in a marginal
electorate if they win," Coates told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
radio.
Coates also called for the IOC to make a clear statement of
support for Sydney.
"They (the IOC) must at an executive board affirm that there's
absolutely no question of moving the games from Salt Lake City,
Sydney or Athens or whatever -- all the existing bids," he said.
"I certainly hope it will end with the IOC having clearer and
more specific bidding guidelines that won't necessitate us and
Manchester doing what we did to try and match what China was doing
through government aid," Coates said.
Manchester, which Sunday began a compensation claim against the
IOC, has called for Sydney's host status to be reviewed.
"Let's get serious about Manchester bleating too," Coates
said. "They got 12 votes."
Meanwhile, Australian Commonwealth Games Association president
Sam Coffa said Sunday that type of scandals besetting the Olympics
would not be uncovered if past Commonwealth Games bids were
investigated.
Coffa said allegations of corruption in the Commonwealth Games
bidding process had not marred this week's visit by Commonwealth
Games Federation delegates to assess Melbourne's bid for the 2006
games.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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