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Vote of confidence Despite scandal, IOC takes no action against Samaranch
Posted: Wednesday March 17, 1999 09:32 AM
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (Reuters) -- International Olympic Committee (IOC) chief Juan Antonio Samaranch remains one of the great survivors of 20th century politics. On Wednesday the 78-year-old Spaniard predictably won a crushing vote of confidence at the start of a special two-day IOC session called to grapple with the biggest corruption scandal in the history of the modern Olympic movement. Calling for a vote of confidence at his own exclusive club was hardly a gamble for the former banker, politician and diplomat. Samaranch has consistently ignored worldwide calls for his resignation after revelations late last year that some members took bribes during the successful bid by Salt Lake City for the 2002 Winter Games. As a Spanish politician who not only survived but also prospered after his troubled nation's transition to democracy, Samaranch clearly cannot be underestimated and his career is an object lesson in cunning and calculation. While General Francisco Franco ruled Spain Samaranch was, according to his official biography, a banker, prominent in local government in Barcelona and president of the Spanish Olympic Committee from 1967 to 1970. In 1977, after democracy had been installed, he was appointed as Spain's first ambassador to the Soviet Union and began his rise to the top of the international sporting tree. Samaranch helped Moscow organize the 1980 Olympics and made a number of allies in the Soviet bloc who helped him win the IOC presidency in the same year. The 19 years since Samaranch took control of the IOC have been the most eventful in its history. He has steered the IOC through two mass boycotts in 1980 and again in 1984 and presided over the commercial explosion that has made the modern Olympics a money-spinning bonanza. Samaranch has moved swiftly, and when necessary, ruthlessly to maintain and extend his control. Four years ago the IOC raised its age limit from 75 to 80, allowing Samaranch to remain in power until 2001, after his supporters headed by Mexico's Mario Vazquez Rana pushed a motion through a session in Budapest. Throughout his presidency there has been criticism of the opulent life style enjoyed by both himself and his members, which prompted a detailed rebuttal by the IOC's Communications Office in January this year. The proof that members had taken bribes during the Salt Lake City campaign provoked outrage throughout the world and had leading newspapers calling for his resignation. Samaranch has remained outwardly impervious to the criticism. "To resign in the moment when the boat is in a storm, that is not my style," he told Reuters. On Wednesday, Samaranch not only defended the Olympic movement, and by extension his leadership, but praised the progress made since 1980. "I accept the responsibility for leading the IOC through the crisis," he said. "I am determined to do so and I need your support. "It would be my honor to lead the IOC and my colleagues through this difficult time and I ask that you lend your support to me, once again, in our most difficult hour."
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