German NOC chief dismisses boycott threat
Posted: Monday March 15, 1999 01:58 PM
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) -- Germany's Olympic chief told his government Monday not to meddle in sports and dismissed a cabinet minister's suggestion of a possible European boycott of the next Olympics.
"The fundamental decision about the participation of German sports in international competitions certainly does not come under the responsibility of the government," National Olympic Committee (NOC) president Walther Troeger said.
Troeger's statement came in response to an interview with Interior Minister Otto Schily published Monday in the business daily Handelsblatt.
Schily was quoted as saying he could imagine a European boycott of the next Olympics if the International Olympic Committee (IOC) doesn't deal clean up its house following the Salt Lake City bribery scandal.
"Olympic games in which the European countries don't participate would be a hard blow for the IOC," Schily told the paper. "Such a step naturally would be dependent on the unity of the European states. But I'm sure that we will form a clear opinion, also with the corresponding solidarity."
Germany currently holds the European Union's rotating presidency.
Schily, whose ministry is responsible for sports, urged the IOC to rethink its structure, including making the selection process more transparent, introducing term limits and being more open about its finances.
"The IOC should very clearly recognize that the organization has to be really cleaned up after the scandal of the past years," he said. "The member states of the EU will throw their entire political weight onto the scales for that."
The IOC general assembly convenes Wednesday and Thursday after a two-day meeting of the executive board to deal with the bribery scandal.
Troeger, who is a member of the IOC, said making boycott threats was not the proper way to deal with the IOC.
In an interview with the Berlin newspaper Tagesspiegel published Sunday, Troeger said the IOC should change the way it chooses its members.
He said the IOC was a rubber-stamp body when it came to electing new members.
"It was suggested who should be recruited and we raised our hands or applauded -- that was it," Troeger was quoted as saying.
He said IOC members must have the possibility to vote against a candidate.
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