Two prospective corporate sponsors for the 2002 Salt
Lake City Games "have said they will not make their deals
final until all investigations into the unfolding corruption
scandal have been completed," according to Jere Longman of
the N.Y. TIMES. At a news conference in N.Y., USOC Deputy
Secretary General & OPUS President John Krimsky "would not
identify the sponsors, but said their decisions to hold off
on signing formal sponsorship contracts reflected
considerable uneasiness among" corporate backers. The USOC
and SLOC still need to raise $250M in sponsorship money to
meet the 2002 Games' $1.45B budget. The sponsors'
"nervousness" comes as the IOC is prepared to release a
preliminary report on the Salt Lake City bid scandal, where
"as many" as 16 members may be implicated in accepting gifts
and payments during the bidding process. John Hancock
Mutual Life Insurance President David D'Alessandro: "The
I.O.C.'s sponsorships have become radioactive."
D'Alessandro, on the future of IOC President Juan Antonio
Samaranch: "Can Samaranch go into a boardroom and credibly
sell a sponsorship? I don't know the answer to that. I
think he survives if his changes are extraordinary,
sweeping" (N.Y. TIMES, 1/21). AD AGE reports on Krimsky's
press conference, noting that Olympic execs said "sponsors
are not only standing behind the Games but that they have
commitments from two more companies" (AD AGE, 1/21).
RINGS DINGED: D'Alessandro said he has decided to take
the Olympic rings off the company's annual report, which is
due in April, because "he doesn't know what's going to
happen between now and then" (USA TODAY, 1/21).
IS SAMARANCH SAFE? USA TODAY's Sports Cover Story
examines "Olympic-Size Restoration," and Mike Dodd reports
that Samaranch "will be in the spotlight this weekend as he
seeks to deflect growing sentiment that he should be held
ultimately accountable for the corruption that took place
under his leadership" (USA TODAY, 1/21). USA TODAY's
Christopher Winner writes that "as the scandal has widened,"
Samaranch "has been forced to openly say the unthinkable:
That he himself will not step down" (USA TODAY, 1/21). In
CO, Mike Spence writes that everything Samaranch "does
lately ... blows up in his face." The "latest revelation"
is that donations to Samaranch's "pet project," the Olympic
Museum in Lausanne, helped "cities win Olympic bids."
Olympic journalist Andrew Jennings: "Samaranch is in
trouble. He could be out by March. ... Dick Pound is
driving the situation now. That could be trouble for
Samaranch" (CO Springs GAZETTE, 1/21).
SELLING THE GAMES BY THE POUND: In Toronto, Steve
Simmons writes that IOC VP Dick Pound's statements that he
was offered a $1M bribe while negotiating an Olympic TV deal
are "hypocritical at best, self-serving at worst. ... Why
didn't he contact the authorities upon learning of this
situation?" Also in Toronto, Rosie DiManno writes that
Pound is the "last (or second-last) person I would trust
with getting to the bottom of the current votes-for-cash
imbroglio." Having him lead this investigation "proves the
IOC is still wildly clueless" (TORONTO STAR, 1/21). Also in
Toronto, Stephen Brunt writes that "one could suggest" that
if Pound received a bribe "and did nothing about it, he's
part of the problem" (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 1/21).
