IOC members began gathering in Lausanne, Switzerland,
yesterday with a sense of both "resignation and defiance
about the future of the Olympic movement," according to Jere
Longman of the N.Y. TIMES. A "sort of back-to-the-wall
aggressiveness has emerged" from the members who "appear
sensitive, even resentful, of being sternly told to clean up
their act by American sponsors, Olympic officials,
investigators and journalists." While the IOC will "show how
serious it is about reform" at this week's meetings, a "mood
of lowered expectations already seems to have taken hold.
While there appears to be no chance of immediate sweeping
reform, things could develop into chaos, as did a doping
summit last month" (N.Y. TIMES, 3/15). In Chicago, Philip
Hersh writes that if this week's special session proves
"futile," the IOC "may never regain a shred of the prestige
it once claimed." In an interview with a German business
newspaper, German Interior Minister Otto Schily mentioned a
"possible Olympic boycott" by European Union countries if the
IOC "fails to go forward on reform" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 3/15).
The session comes after the IOC Exec Board said Friday it
voted to expel Western Samoan member Seiuli Paul Wallwork,
censure board members Kim Un-yong of South Korea and Phil
Coles of Australia, and warn seven others. IOC VP Dick Pound
denied that expelling one member among 13 cases was a
whitewash: "It is a very serious rebuke that has been made
public throughout the world" (BOSTON GLOBE, 3/13). A SALT
LAKE TRIBUNE editorial states that indications from Friday's
report is that the IOC "is about to choose the road to ruin"
and "embrace a bunker mentality" in the bribery scandal (SALT
LAKE TRIBUNE, 3/15). In Toronto, Randy Starkman wrote that
the expulsion of only Wallwork shows that the IOC special
meeting "is going to be sham." Kim was "spared" because
"he's a man who likely knows where the skeletons are in the
IOC's closet" (TORONTO STAR, 3/14). Wallwork, noting that
Australia's Coles was "let off" with a warning: "Of course,
he comes from a major country with a city organizing the
Olympic Games for next year. How can you possibly remove a
person like that? To clear some people and penalize others,
I find that inexplicable" (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 3/15).
THE FUTURE OF JUAN: In Salt Lake City, Ed Hula reported
that Samaranch will likely "emerge" from the meetings with a
"vote of confidence that he should stay as president, at
least for now." His status "will be settled early on Day 1,"
and he will "then test his mandate through a tricky agenda
that calls for the expulsion of members and establishing
credible reforms to restore the IOC's image" (SALT LAKE
TRIBUNE, 3/14). Samaranch, on the bribery scandal: "I'm
guilty of one mistake; underestimating what was going on
around all the bid cities -- the money, the interest of all
types, the temptations, the weaknesses" (TORONTO STAR, 3/13).
Samaranch: "I don't deny it's serious, despicable in certain
aspects. But it all amounts to a total of around $1 million
in gifts, scholarships, trips for wives. Look at the
European Union scandal. That involves around $1 billion. ...
I also can't accept that we are depicted as a gang of
criminals or that the Salt Lake organizers were victims. ....
They were the corrupters" (AP, 3/14). In Toronto, Donovan
Vincent: "Therein lies the character flaw that may be his
undoing: an unwillingness to accept the magnitude of the
IOC's crisis" (TORONTO STAR, 3/14). Former ACOG co-Chair
Andrew Young wrote an op-ed in support of Samaranch under the
header, "An Olympic Hero: Samaranch Has Made The Games
Better, Not Worse" (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 3/14).
