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Deeply divided Host city visits key bone of contention in reform vote
Posted: Friday December 10, 1999 05:03 PM
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) -- As the International Olympic Committee prepares to vote on reforms aimed at closing its biggest corruption scandal, members are deeply divided over what action to take on a central issue -- visits to bid cities. The IOC's 80-member 2000 Commission failed to agree whether such visits should be banned outright -- a measure strongly supported by IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch. After the revelations of improper inducements stemming from Salt Lake's winning bid for the 2002 Winter Games, the IOC banned visits during the bidding for the 2006 Games. But, although many members favor a blanket ban on visits to future bid cities, just as many argue that visits are needed to make an informed choice and to allow lesser-known bidders to demonstrate their merits. This weekend's session faces a choice between accepting the IOC 2000 recommendation that visits "are not necessary" or backing a tightened visits procedure, which requires submitting individual, formal requests to travel to candidate cities. But the depth of disagreement on the issue is such that the IOC may end up endorsing a compromise that leaves the divisive issue open. Senior officials suggest the ban could be maintained through the bidding process for the 2008 Summer Games, to be awarded in 2001, and then reviewed. "I hope that, at least during the rest of my presidency, there will be no visits," Samaranch said. "Even if we decide now for no visits, maybe after 2001, the IOC will decide to have visits for the future." A permanent ban likely would stir resentment among IOC members and many bid cities. "I foresee at some point all the candidate cities are going to come to the IOC and say this is not fair, especially for those of which are not world capitals," IOC vice president Dick Pound said. "I would guess we would go through one more cycle without visits and then reassess." While some argue that the ban is necessary to prevent further damage to the IOC's public image, others bridle at what they view as an implication they can't be trusted, even after 10 members resigned or were expelled in the Salt Lake cleanup. A ban "makes criminals of all of us," says Tommy Sithole, an IOC member from Zimbabwe. "I don't think I shouldn't be able to visit the cities because someone is afraid that someone might slip something into my pocket." If visits are allowed, members will be able to travel only after requesting permission from the IOC executive board -- which "will decide under which condition[s] can take place" and at the expense of the IOC. The IOC's increased public exposure is cited by many as an overwhelming reason to impose the ban, leaving members to choose Olympic hosts on the basis of a detailed report by the IOC's evaluation commission. "I think we have to be responsive to public opinion," says British member Craig Reedie. "The only way we can do that in the short term is by not visiting bid cities."
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