IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch said yesterday
that he has no intention of resigning under the current
Olympic controversy and that the IOC hopes to keep the 2002
Games in Salt Lake City, according to Stephen Wilson of the
AP. Samaranch: "We had wonderful years. We had very
successful games. And now we are in a storm." He said the
IOC is looking into changing the current bid process, for
the "system we have today is not working." On Salt Lake
City remaining as the host of the 2002 Games: "The [IOC]
will do its best to try to put in Salt Lake City in 2002
very successful games. ... The hope, the desire of the IOC,
is that the games will go on as planned" (AP, 1/15).
Samaranch said that nine IOC members face possible expulsion
and four face lesser penalties. Olympic execs identified 10
of 13 IOC members who were sent letters asking to explain
their role in the Salt Lake bid process. They are: Anton
Geesink (Netherlands); Jean-Claude Ganga (Congo Republic);
David Sibandze (Swaziland); Bashir Attarabulsi (Libya);
Agustin Arroyo (Ecuador); Sergio Santander Fantini (Chile);
Pirjo Haeggman (Finland); Vitaly Smirnov (Russia); Lamine
Keita (Mali) and Charles Mukora (Kenya) (N.Y. TIMES, 1/15).
ANOTHER RESIGNATION: USOC Senior Dir of Int'l Relations
Alfredo LaMont resigned yesterday due to an "undisclosed
business relationship" with the SLOC through former SLOC
President Tom Welch (USOC). One Olympic official told the
N.Y. TIMES that LaMont had received a four-figure consulting
fee per month from Salt Lake City (N.Y. TIMES, 1/15).
COULD UTAH CITE MISCONDUCT CLAUSE? The DESERET NEWS'
Lisa Riley Roche reports that Salt Lake City officials
"intend to use a misconduct clause" in the IOC's contract
with the city to "pressure" the IOC to come up with more
money for the Games (DESERET NEWS, 1/15).
SPONSOR SALES DELAYED: OPUS President & USOC Deputy
Secretary General John Krimsky said sponsorship sales could
be affected by the bribery scandal: "The longer that it goes
on, clearly the more difficult it is for us from a sale
standpoint to attract new sponsors. We don't expect any of
the existing sponsors to bail out. But we certainly have to
make the Games financially successful by attracting lots of
new sponsors." In CO, Mike Spence reports that some
sponsors may "force the IOC to reduce the cost for future
sponsorships and grant them greater freedom to make their
Olympic ties in advertising" (GAZETTE-TELEGRAPH, 1/15).
MORE CALLS FOR SAMARANCH'S RESIGNATION: USA TODAY's
Christine Brennan writes under the header, "Lately Invisible
Samaranch Needs To Step Down Now." While IOC President Juan
Antonio Samaranch has "maintained a very safe distance" from
Salt Lake City, Brennan writes that to "give the IOC a fresh
start ... Samaranch should resign. He should resign sooner
rather than later" (USA TODAY, 1/15). In Orlando, George
Diaz calls Samaranch "the problem, not the solution." Diaz:
"Samaranch has established himself as a hypocritical broker
of influence who expects the world to believe his litany of
lies" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 1/15). In UT, Doug Robinson:
"Samaranch is the one who fostered a system of graft; he is
the one who allowed the back-room games that SLOC officials
so unwisely chose to play. They paid with it for their
jobs; now it's Samaranch's turn" (DESERET NEWS, 1/15). But
IOC VP Anita DeFrantz backed Samaranch: "What people lose
sight of is that he is trying to solve the problems and
clear up this process" (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 1/15).
WALKER SPEAKS: USOC President Emeritus Dr. LeRoy Walker
said the Olympic movement "is at risk" by the scandal.
Walker adds that Samaranch needs "to be more hands-on, (but)
firing is not the answer." Walker: "If the TOP (The Olympic
Partners sponsorship) program goes, I don't know how the IOC
functions" (Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER, 1/15).
NO WORRIES: NBC Sports Chair Dick Ebersol said that the
network's ad sales should not be affected by the current
controversy: "Millions of people watch the Olympics to see
the athletes and competition. This very tough situation in
Salt Lake City will be an important footnote in the opening
ceremonies in 2002. None of our advertisers have expressed
a word of worry" (USA TODAY, 1/15).
FREE PUBLICITY FOR $200, PLEASE: In Salt Lake City,
Christopher Smith reports that calls to UT's "tourism
information line have more than doubled since the Olympic
bribery scandal broke." Diane Chamberlain, Assistant Dir of
the UT Travel Council: "We will take advantage of this and
turn it into a positive" (SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 1/15).
DOWN UNDER: An Australian auditor estimated that the
2000 Sydney Games will cost taxpayers A$2.3B (US$1.45B),
almost $700M (US$443.5M) above the Government estimate of
A$1.6B (US$1.013B) (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 1/15).
