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Nagano residents sue IOC Plantiffs want 'entertainment' costs from Samaranch, IOC
Posted: Tuesday April 06, 1999 03:56 PM
TOKYO (AP) -- Residents of Nagano sued the IOC and IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch on Tuesday, demanding the return of 831 million yen ($6.9 million) in taxpayer money used in the bid for the 1998 Nagano Winter Games, a court official said. Shigeru Tomidokoro, a spokesman for the Tokyo District court, said the plaintiffs were three citizens led by Kaoru Iwata, a former town assemblyman in Nagano, 179 kilometers (112 miles) northwest of Tokyo. Iwata said the lawsuit is "the only way to impeach the injustice" since the International Olympic Committee and Samaranch will not punish nine IOC members suspected by the Japanese Olympic Committee of violating IOC rules by receiving "excessive" entertainment. In Lausanne, Switzerland, IOC marketing director Michael Payne said he was "slightly surprised" to hear of the suit, given the amount of financial support that the IOC gave the organizing committee during the Games. Japan spent 2 billion yen ($16.7 million) on its campaign to win the right to host the games. Nagano state and local governments put up 831 million yen ($6.9 million) of that total, while the rest came from private or corporate contributions. The plaintiffs argue that the IOC should not have allowed its members to accept the allegedly 'excessive' entertainment knowing that much of the money used to pay for it had come from taxpayers. The plaintiffs want to the IOC to pay back the amount taxpayers contributed. Iwata's group has already sued Nagano Prefecture Governor Goro Yoshimura, the chairman of the Japan Olympic Committee, Hironoshi Furuhashi, and the mayor of the city of Nagano, Tasuku Tsukada, to force them to further specify how the money was spent. JOC Secretary-General Yushiro Yagi, who led an investigation into Nagano's bid, said on Feb. 12 that the nine might have broken IOC rules while visiting Nagano during the city's successful bid for the Winter Games. Yagi refused to name the nine or detail their conduct, although he said at that time that he would report it to IOC headquarters in Switzerland. Iwata said the money should be returned to four local governments -- Nagano prefecture (state), Nagano city, Yamanouchi town and Hakuba village -- because they granted gave tax money to the Nagano Olympic Bidding Committee between 1989 and 1991. Japanese bidders have said they wined and dined visiting IOC officials, entertaining some with geisha and taking others to the tourist spot of Kyoto. Iwata said Samaranch was given a painting and a sword worth 1 million yen ($8,000) by the Nagano bidders. The IOC says it has the painting at its headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, but denies having received the sword. There is no limit on the value of gifts to Samaranch because he accepts them on behalf of the IOC and does not vote in the selection of host cities. IOC officials are limited to gifts under $150.
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