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Airing dirty laundry Sydney's Knight releases intimate details of IOC members
Posted: Wednesday May 12, 1999 11:25 AM
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) -- Intimate personal details of International Olympic Committee members were made public by Sydney Olympics president Michael Knight on Wednesday, embarrassing Australian IOC official Phil Coles. Knight did not seek IOC permission to give out 400-pages of previously confidential material and justified his release by saying the documents had already been leaked to two media organizations. Marital problems, perceived honesty, even matters such as smoking, eating and shopping habits, were documented by Coles and his partner Patricia Rosenbrock -- both members of Sydney's bid team. The IOC is investigating how the documents apparently found their way to Salt Lake City officials before the city's successful bid to host the 2002 Winter Games. Coles has denied passing them on. Several IOC members covered by the notes have been previously expelled by the IOC, resigned or died. In one entry, Coles noted that the husband of Finnish member Pirjo Haggman needed work in forestry. Haggman resigned after husband Bjarne worked for Salt Lake City, following a 20-month forestry contract in Canada while Toronto was bidding for the 1996 Games. Coles' notes were made before Sydney won the 2000 Games. In handwritten notes on 67 IOC members, Rosenbrock gives her suggestions on whether an IOC member would vote for or against Salt Lake City. It appears that her notes were written after Sydney won its bid but before the 1995 vote for the 2002 Winter Games. The documents went much further than voting predictions. Greek IOC member Lambis Nikolaou was considered "very temperamental -- emphasis on mental. Don't mention Macedonia," one note says. The comments came after Nikolaou complained about a letter sent to him by Sydney schoolchildren which made references to Macedonian students and Macedonian language. Rosenbrock probed a row between Denmark's Niels Holst-Sorensen and his wife while they were on a visit in Sydney, writing that she persuaded his wife not to leave early. Rosenbrock warned Salt Lake organizers to, "make sure she is included in conversations, do not get him talking shop and ignoring her." Rosenbrock was stationed in Paris by the Sydney bid team just prior to the 1993 vote at which Sydney won. She got close to the wives of many IOC delegates and wrote on senior official Jacques Rogge's dossier that "he was very complimentary of the part he felt I played in Sydney's win." Rosenbrock was also prepared to be blunt about perceived weaknesses. Alexandru Siperco, IOC meber from Romania, was "a little old and irritable," she noted. Western Samoa's Seuili Paul Wallwork "seems to have a bit of a chip on his shoulder, i.e. often seems a little unhappy," she wrote. Rosenbrock wrote that the wife of Argentina's Antonio Rodriguez was considered "nervous, perhaps tranquilized to the extreme," while former member Philippe Chatrier of France is "definitely having an Alzheimer-type problem." Lmine Kieta of Mali was "more than prepared to take advantage of any expense allowance. Not to be trusted I believe -- but said he supports Salt Lake." Rosenbrock dancd with Charles Mukora and flirted with Rene Essomba, jokingly calling him her "husband," but trusted neither of the African members. Mukora, Kieta and Wallwork were expelled or resigned. Essomba is dead. Rosenbrock found plenty of "nice" and "honorable" IOC members but also noticed other personal traits -- vanity, pride, desire. Louis Guirandou-N'Diaye, of the Ivory Coast, "enjoys flattery, especially about his elegant dress. "Enjoys having a female take care of him -- but can be quite imperious with those he considers as staff." Flor Isava-Fonseca, of Venezuela, was proud of being named the first woman on the IOC's executive board. "Loves men, especially good looking attentive ones," notes Rosenbrock. "They keep her young." German member Walther Troeger's wife Almuth was disappointed that her husband's association with the aborted Berlin bid for 2000 had cost her some gifts. "Almuth quite likes to receive small gifts and comlained to me that she missed out on some things because they represented a bidding city," Rosenbrock wrote. "After the decision I promised to give her a scarf or two that she liked. She was very pleased. They have a daughter on west coast of USA -- so would be perhaps inclined to voting for Salt Lake." Shagdarjav Magvan of Mongolia "took food back from Australia, export packs of mutton [lamb]." Rosenbrock, at her most thorough, found Norway's Jan Staubo "a little difficult to cater for. Tends to order food then is unable to swallow it. Has some sort of throat difficulty." Coles has been censured for receiving excessive hospitality from the Salt Lake bid and is under investigation on claims he received expensive jewelry from Athens' failed bid for the 1996 Summer Games. Knight said he did not consider it necessary to ask for the IOC's permission to release the documents, despite the personal references made to many members. "The material is already out there in full with two media organizations," he said Wednesday. "We took advice on how we could handle any [Freedom of Information] applications. The legal advice was if there was an FOI application, we'd have to hand the stuff over, so it's silly to prevaricate or procrastinate." Coles, who has claimed a conspiracy working against him with the SOCOG board, took a shot at Knight over the release. "It's a typical Knight stunt probably," Coles said. "He seems to have been wanting my head on a block for some time."
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