Standing outside the storm?
IOC's Samaranch refuses to consider stepping down
Posted: Tuesday January 26, 1999 01:43 PM
| |
Samaranch: "I am pleased with myself, what I have done these 18 years." AP |
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) -- Juan Antonio Samaranch says he lives a modest life -- not a life of pampered luxury as his critics contend.
"I am not a rich man," the IOC president said. "I am a normal man. My style of life is the same for many, many years. I have no yachts. I have no planes. I have no cars, luxury cars. ...
"I don't like big dinners, big lunches. I am doing my best to try to be fit with physical exercises every morning. That's my life."
The 78-year-old Spaniard defended his lifestyle Monday as part of a campaign to restore his image and that of the IOC in the wake of the Olympics' biggest corruption scandal.
"When I read that I take a helicopter from Lausanne to [nearby] Geneva, that's crazy," Samaranch said. "It is much quicker to go by car."
"Listen, I am a normal person. I am giving 85 percent of my time to the IOC, living in Lausanne. I have a very small suite, paying 300 Swiss francs [$220] a day when I am present, 100 Swiss francs [$72] when I'm not."
A day after expelling six members in an unprecedented housecleaning, Samaranch went on the attack, angrily firing back at his critics, praising his record and dismissing renewed calls for his resignation.
"I am pleased with myself, what I have done these 18 years," Samaranch said. "Today, the International Olympic Committee is very important in our society."
Newspapers around the world continued to criticize the IOC and called on Samaranch to step down in the wake of the bribery scandal that has engulfed the Salt Lake Winter Games of 2002.
But he remained defiant and said the IOC needs him more than ever because the organization is going through the worst crisis in its 105-year existence.
"I am not thinking of any kind of resignation," he said. "In these moments, the Olympic movement is in real danger. ... I have been elected by the members of the IOC, not by outside people. Not a single [resignation] call is coming from an IOC member."
He took direct aim at Robert Helmick, a former IOC vice president and head of the U.S. Olympic Committee. Helmick, who resigned from both organizations in 1991 following conflict-of-interest allegations, has led a vocal campaign for Samaranch's ouster.
In an unusual public attack on another person, a visibly angry Samaranch said Helmick has no business calling for his resignation. He said Helmick left the IOC because he would have been expelled otherwise.
"If these propositions are coming from Helmick, for me, they have not any kind of value," Samaranch said. "He was a man who had to resign because he was facing expulsion from the IOC."
In Des Moines, Iowa, Helmick said Samaranch's actions Sunday were "a good first step," but far from enough to solve the problems facing the IOC.
"For his own sake, I hope he will carefully consider all actions possible for the IOC to cleanse itself of this mess, and how new leadership might help," Helmick said.
Samaranch deflected criticism of his leadership style, saying, "The IOC is not run by myself. The IOC is run mainly by the executive board of the IOC. ... I am not the boss. I am the president following the rules."
Asked whether the IOC should be run more like a business, he said, "I think the IOC is run very well. The results are excellent."
Samaranch confirmed that the six IOC members who were "temporarily excluded" Sunday had effectively been expelled. If they fight their ouster, he said, they will need to seek reinstatement at the March session, a reversal "I cannot imagine."
An IOC investigative report found 14 members received cash payments, scholarships for their children, medical services and other favors stemming from Salt Lake's bid.
Three members have resigned in the case. In addition to the six expelled, one received a warning and three others -- including powerful executive board member Kim Un-Yong of South Korea -- remain under investigation.
Samaranch announced Sunday he would put his leadership to a vote of confidence at a special IOC session March 17-18. Only if he fails to get the members' endorsement will he resign. At the moment, the chances of his losing the vote are remote.
Elected in 1980, Samaranch intends to retire when he completes his final term in 2001, when he will be 81. He ruled out being drafted for another term.
Under Samaranch, the Olympics have moved from near-bankruptcy to billion-dollar success. IOC director general Francois Carrard acknowledged that the Olympic bidding process became rife for abuses once the games became a big-money attraction.
"The flaws have begun because you meet people who are eager to do anything, to seduce, to influence people," he said. "At first, it's not all necessarily by corruption. But you want to convince, you want to be kind, you want to be nice, you want to influence, you want to seduce.
"That's when the temptations begin. When you have money involved, the stakes are very high. Some members were not all able to resist as they should have and they did not."
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
| 
