An Olympic-Sized Scandal

▪ 2000

      In 1999 it appeared that the Olympic Games might take the gold for the century's widest-reaching and most notorious sports scandal. Years in advance of each Olympic Games, members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) elect a host city from among those bidding to hold the event. The right to hold the 2002 Winter Games was won in 1995 by Salt Lake City, Utah, which was later alleged to have bought or influenced the vote at the cost of Olympic ideals.

      In November 1998 local Salt Lake City reporters discovered that relatives of some IOC members had been given university scholarships. It was eventually revealed that more than $1 million of Salt Lake Organizing Committee (SLOC) funds had been paid out for college costs, ghost-hiring schemes, a political campaign, vacations (including Super Bowl tickets), shopping sprees, and other gifts, as well as direct payments to IOC members and their families. Jean-Claude Ganga of the Republic of the Congo was alleged to have been the largest recipient, taking in a reported $250,000 in gifts and wire transfers. It was also revealed that Salt Lake City firms and retail stores had “donated” over $1 million in value-in-kind items to visiting IOC members. An SLOC Board of Ethics report placed most of the blame on Tom Welch and Dave Johnson, respectively the president and vice president of the SLOC and of the Salt Lake Olympic Bid Committee. Welch, Johnson, and Frank Joklik, Welch's successor as SLOC chairman, were among those forced to resign. Criminal charges also were brought against local business executives.

      The bad press in Utah upset Olympic supporters and made some companies wary of Olympic sponsorship, which in turn caused belt-tightening in Sydney, Australia (site of the 2000 Summer Games), and anxiety for the marketing arm of the IOC as well as for the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC), which earned millions of dollars from broadcasting and advertising deals. Thus, international damage control began; there were gag orders issued, advertising campaigns inaugurated, reforms planned, and investigations supported, including inquiries by the IOC, the USOC, the U.S. Congress, and the U.S. Department of Justice. An IOC subcommittee recommended a complete overhaul of the selection process, and several IOC and USOC members were expelled, reprimanded, or compelled to resign. The president of the IOC, Juan António Samaranch (see Biographies (Samaranch, Juan Antonio )), also was sharply criticized.

      Still the scandal widened. It was reported that the election of Nagano, Japan, to serve as host of the 1998 Winter Games was influenced by expensive entertaining and costly gifts, such as video cameras. After an initial denial, officials in Atlanta, Ga. (site of the 1996 Summer Games), admitted some misconduct, while officials in Sydney and Lillehammer, Nor. (host of the 1994 Winter Games), released reports that indicated minor infractions but no widespread corruption in the bids by those cities. It was alleged that large sums of money had been spent by bidding committees in Toronto, Amsterdam, and Athens (chosen to be host of the 2004 Summer Games) to entertain visiting IOC members and influence their votes. Some officials of those cities denied wrongdoing while admitting that IOC limits on gift giving were not followed. In late 1999 several investigations were still pending, and it was uncertain how far or how high the scandal would ultimately reach.

Stephen P. Davis

* * *