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IOC to elect new president Monday
MOSCOW (AP) -- With one momentous decision out of the way, Olympic leaders are nearing another. While the vote to award the 2008 Summer Games to Beijing attracted massive worldwide attention Friday, members of the International Olympic Committee are more interested in another task: electing a new president. With Juan Antonio Samaranch stepping down after 21 years in office, the IOC on Monday will choose the eighth president in the organization's 107-year history. Five candidates are running for the most powerful post in international sports. Belgian surgeon Jacques Rogge is considered a narrow favorite over Kim Un-yong of South Korea and Dick Pound of Canada. Anita DeFrantz of the United States and Pal Schmitt of Hungary are long shots. Beijing won the 2008 contest by a landslide over Toronto, Paris, Istanbul and Osaka. As Toronto bid chief John Bitove said Saturday: "It was one giant snowball rolling down the hill and we're standing at the bottom." But the presidential election could be tighter and less predictable. There has been a flurry of furious lobbying in the foyer, bars, restaurants, corridors and meeting rooms of the IOC hotel in Moscow. Rumors of bargaining, vote-trading and alliances are rife. Rogge remains well placed to become the IOC's second Belgian president. Henri de Baillet-Latour served from 1925-1942. "If you did a poll, Jacques would retain his favorite position," said British member Craig Reedie. Rogge should be able to count on a large number of European votes. Supporters also cite his language skills, non-confrontational style and impeccable reputation. "Jacques is multilingual, he's full of charm, he's built up the European Olympic committees," Reedie said. "His skills are keeping people together." While Pound's chances have been written off by some, the Montreal lawyer insisted the prognosticators were wrong. "Am I a player?" he asked. "Yes, I am very much in contention." There are strong indications that Pound, who has been on the IOC since 1978 and negotiated its lucrative television and sponsorship deals, will quit if he loses. But Pound has declined to say what he would do. While the election of Rogge or Pound could be viewed as an affirmation of the reforms adopted by the IOC in wake of the Salt Lake City bid scandal, the potential of a Kim victory has alarmed some Olympic delegates, officials and sponsors. The election of Kim would lead to a scenario once considered inconceivable: a man nearly expelled from the IOC two years ago in the Salt Lake scandal going there in February to preside over the opening of the Winter Games. In 1999, Kim received a "most serious warning" after an IOC inquiry -- headed by Pound -- found that Kim's son allegedly accepted a sham job funded by the Salt Lake bid committee. Kim has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and declared, "I am a benefit giver, not a benefit taker." David D'Alessandro, the IOC's sharpest corporate critic, has said electing Kim "would be like taking a guy with a rain cloud over his head and placing him in power. I think it would be a terrible slap in the face of everyone associated with the Olympics." Kim shrugs off the critics and concentrates on winning votes. "I am a nice guy unless they stab me in the back," he said Saturday. "I don't think they would try." Kim has shrewdly appealed directly to the personal interests of the members, offering to reinstate bid-city visits -- banned after the Salt Lake scandal -- and provide delegates with offices in their home countries. "I don't need to go around shaking hands at the last minute," Kim said. "I'm not someone who just hangs on the coattails of Samaranch. The members should recognize that I have worked all my life in the interests of sports." Some members said Kim's chances were damaged by Beijing's victory in the 2008 race, contending the European-dominated IOC is unlikely to give another historic prize to Asia. But Kim insisted the result could help his cause. "Now that China has been given the games, you can expect many problems," he said. "So you need someone with diplomatic capabilities to deal with China and perhaps with the United States." A leaflet circulating Saturday among IOC members listed seven qualifications for the presidency -- with Kim's name checked next to each. Pound had one check, the others none. When a reporter began to show the unsourced document to Kim, he quickly said, "No, I know nothing about this."
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