The 2002 Winter Olympics "will not be taken away" from
Salt Lake City following an "international controversy over
corruption and bribery in the Olympic movement," according
to Mike Gorrell of the SALT LAKE TRIBUNE. IOC President
Juan Antonio Samaranch: "There is not any kind of
possibility [of changing sites]" (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 12/14).
USOC Deputy Secretary General John Krimsky: "There is no
chance at all, absolutely none in my mind" (AP, 12/11).
HODLER SPILLS THE BEANS: IOC Exec Board Member Marc
Hodler "alleged mispractices in the bid campaigns" for the
'96, '98, 2000 and 2002 Games, and that he "believed 5 to 7
percent of IOC members have solicited bribes." When asked
if all Olympic votes are "tainted," Hodler replied, "There
is a good chance it is always the case" (AP, 12/12). In
Salt Lake City, Mike Gorrell wrote that the allegations left
several people "wondering aloud whether the 80-year-old
Hodler had had a stroke or some other mentally imbalancing
medical episode" (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 12/13). USA TODAY's
Mike Dodd calls fallout from Hodler's comments the Olympic
Games' "darkest weekend since the dire period of Olympic
boycotts" (USA TODAY, 12/14). Samaranch said yesterday, "If
we have to clean, we will clean" (AP, 12/14).
THE INVESTIGATION BEGINS: The IOC's investigation into
payments from the Salt Lake bid committee to six relatives
of IOC members "marks the first time that the IOC has
formally investigated oft-rumored allegations of vote buying
by cities bidding for the Olympics." IOC VP Richard Pound
was appointed to lead the investigation (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE,
12/13). SLOC President Frank Joklik, who was part of the
bid process, said the controversial payments that formed a
scholarship program aiding relatives of IOC members "should
not have been part of the bid campaign." Joklik: "I
apologize to the Olympic family and the citizens of Utah for
the embarrassment caused by the bid committee program"
(WASHINGTON POST, 12/14). But Joklik said the SLOC "never
paid for votes" (DESERET NEWS, 12/13). The IOC's Pound said
the investigation could include Atlanta, Nagano and Sydney,
but "won't do it automatically" (USA TODAY, 12/14).
AND SPONSOR? The USOC's Krimsky is "working to calm
sponsors" of the 2002 Games. Krimsky: "Clearly the sponsors
are not going to be happy with what they're hearing."
Krimsky said that two unnamed sponsors have already
contacted him with questions (DESERET NEWS, 12/12).
