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WAS ENOUGH DONE? IOC'S FIRST STEPS EARN WIDESPREAD REACTION

          The IOC announced yesterday that its Exec Board
     unanimously recommended that six IOC members be expelled for
     taking payoffs and gifts in connection with the Salt Lake
     City bid for the 2002 Games, while three other members are
     still under investigation.  The IOC has also 1) prohibited
     IOC members from visiting or accepting visits from any city
     bidding for the 2006 Games; 2) created a 15-member election
     committee -- with only nine IOC members -- who will chose
     the 2006 site; 3) decided to establish an ethics commission
     made up primarily of outside members.  The IOC's Exec Board
     said it will continue to investigate "inappropriate conduct"
     involving the Olympic Games from '96 through 2006, but that
     it remained committed to holding the 2000 Games in Sydney
     and the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City.  In addition, the Exec
     Board gave IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch a "unanimous
     vote of confidence" (John Powers, BOSTON GLOBE, 1/25).      
     Samaranch: "We are resolute in our determination to root out
     the improprieties and to ensure that this never happens
     again. ... This is the beginning, not the end, of our work. 
     I am certain that the Olympic Movement will emerge from this
     crisis stronger than ever.  I take personal responsibility
     for seeing these reforms enacted."   Samaranch said he would
     ask for a vote of confidence at an IOC special session in
     Switzerland this March (Mult., 1/25).  In all, 14 IOC
     members have resigned, or face expulsion, a warning or
     further IOC investigation into their actions (Mult., 1/25). 
     IOC Exec VP Dick Pound, who led the investigation, said the
     actions were not criminal.  Pound: "I think what we saw in
     most cases was an exercise of bad judgement that amounted in
     a sense to an abuse of their position" (ABC, 1/24). 
          MEDIA REAX: In N.Y., Jere Longman writes that the IOC
     was "taking unprecedented disciplinary action," but by
     expanding its investigation to other bid cites, it "is
     almost certain to be embarrassed by more revelations of
     untoward behavior" (N.Y. TIMES, 1/25).  NBC's George Lewis
     reported that with further investigations, "the tarnish on
     the Olympic rings could last for some time" (NBC, 1/24). In
     Boston, John Powers writes the IOC "moved decisively to
     purge itself and radically reform the bidding process"
     (BOSTON GLOBE, 1/25).  In ABC's lead report, Carol Simpson
     said the IOC "played rough today" ("World News Tonight,"
     ABC, 1/24).  In N.Y., George Vecsey writes the IOC made a
     "minimal effort to purge itself," as the moves are "a start,
     a token, a gesture."  Vecsey adds that sponsors could force
     a leadership change or a possible lawsuit from Beijing for
     the controversial vote surrounding the 2000 Summer Games
     (N.Y. TIMES, 1/25).  Pound: "I'm confident we've taken the
     first big step, but I don't think it's the last step." 
     Pound, regarding public credibility: "Maybe we got ourselves
     back to neutral at this point" (TORONTO STAR, 1/25).

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