Request for regulation
Olympic scandal prompts USOC to call on White House
Posted: Thursday March 04, 1999 12:33 AM
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USOC president Bill Hybl wants the International Olympic Committee to answer to federal law. AP |
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. Olympic Committee wants the White
House to place the scandal-ridden IOC under federal laws that will
force leaders of the games to live up to the "noble ideals they
profess."
Saying strong action was needed to avoid "the loss of the
Olympic Games," USOC president Bill Hybl said Wednesday he would ask
President Clinton that the International Olympic Committee be
identified as a public international organization under the Federal
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
He said he expected other nations "to support this initiative
as an important way to truly level the playing field" for all
cities seeking to stage the Olympics.
Hybl's announcement was contained in the USOC's formal response
to a report by a special ethics panel that said the IOC had
fostered a "culture of improper gift-giving" that led to the Salt
Lake City bribery scandal, the worst in Olympic history.
In addition to his request to the White House, Hybl said the
USOC's executive committee had approved all the recommendations
made by the ethics panel led by former Senate Majority Leader
George Mitchell.
These include a ban on bid-city assistance funds for foreign
athletes, strengthening USOC controls over American cities bidding
for the games and setting up a compliance office to deal with
conflict-of-interest issues in the bid process.
Hybl also said all meetings of the USOC board of directors and
executive committee would be open to the public. The USOC also
ordered all members to attend at least three-quarters of its annual
meetings and said it would increase participation by Olympic-level
athletes in its decision making.
Hybl and executive director Dick Schultz also said the USOC
would place a permanent staff member in Salt Lake to oversee
Olympic organizers. They added that all committee staff members and
officials would now have to turn over any gifts to the USOC's chief
financial officer.
"I was very saddened about what was going on, and it was
hurting the Olympic family," said Olympic track champion Jackie
Joyner-Kersee, now a special assistant to Hybl. "Our hard work
should not be tarnished by what was going on, but change is in
progress and we are all working hard to make sure we can be proud
to be Olympic athletes."
Hybl said the Salt Lake City scandal, in which 30 of the IOC's
115 members have been implicated, was "the most serious
challenge" to the Olympics in 105 years.
"This challenge has become a global crisis that demands the
most aggressive possible action and a commitment to change," he
said.
While the Mitchell commission focused on the IOC, it also
criticized USOC policy for allowing Salt Lake bidders too much free
rein.
Hybl said the USOC accepted the criticism and was ready to make
changes.
"It is time to find the flaws, correct the mistakes and create
a system that will ensure that these mistakes never happen again.
"We must return the games and the attention to the athletes,
the most important members of the Olympic family. It is their
dreams that we must make possible."
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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