Olympic leaders recommend six expulsions in Salt Lake bribery scandal

As a third member resigned in the scandal, IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch said three other members remained under investigation, while a fourth was warned about his actions by the ruling executive board.

“The members violated their Olympic oath and betrayed the confidence put in them by the Olympic family,” said Samaranch.

He added, “These actions were inappropriate and against the policy of our organisation.”

One member, Jean-Claude Ganga of the Republic of Congo, received $ 226,000 from Salt Lake in cash, medical and travel expenses, gifts andentertainment, according to the IOC report.

Samaranch announced the action at the end of a two-day emergency meeting to deal with a spiraling crisis that started with allegations of bribery in Salt Lake city’s winning bid for the 2002 Winter Olympics.

He said those games would stay in Salt Lake and Sydney would keep the 2000 summer Olympics, even though the investigation has spread to Australia.

Samaranch said the vote on the sanctions was unanimous and all of the six had been asked to resign because they had done great harm to the Olympic movement.

“I express my deepest apology to the athletes, the people of Salt Lake city and Utah, the global Olympic family and the millions of citizens worldwide who love and respect the Games,” Samaranch said.

David Sibandze of Swaziland was the latest member to quit in the scandal, handing his resignation to Samaranch just before the report was released. Two other IOC members resigned last week.

The other six were urged by Samaranch to step down to put anend to the ugliest chapter in the history of the Olympic Games. “The greatest service to the Olympic movement is to accept their fate.”

Samaranch said the IOC would form an ethics commission and continue the corruption investigation in other cities, going back to the bids for the 1996 Games won by Atlanta. He also said he would send two top officials to Sydney within three weeks to investigate the situation there.

“We will do all that is necessary to preserve the integrity and ideals of the Olympic Games to restore the confidence of the public in the Olympic movement,” he said. “The executive board considers this investigation as a way to put our house in order and take the necessary reforms.”

“This is the beginning, not the end of our work. I am determined the Olympic movement will come out stronger from this crisis.”

He said he had no plans to resign, he said he would ask for a vote of confidence on his leadership at a special IOC assembly March 17-18, called to consider the executive boardrecommendations. Until then, the six members will be suspended, Samaranch said.

Dick Pound, IOC vice president and the head of the Salt Lake inquiry, said the investigation and its recommendations dealt solely with Olympic rules.

“We are not accusing any member of corruption or bribery, or suggesting that there was criminal conduct,” Pound said. “These members are guilty of breaking the oath they took and bringing the reputation of the IOC into disrepute.”

IOC director general Francois Carrard said those members recommended for expulsion were Agustin Arroyo of Ecuador, Jean-Claude Ganga of Republic of Congo, Zein El Abdin Ahmed Abdel Gadir of Sudan, Lamine Keita of Mali, Charles Mukora of Kenya and Sergio Santander of Chile.

Still under investigation were Louis Guirandou N’Diaye of the Ivory Coast Kim Un-Yong of South Korea and Vitaly Smirnov of Russia, informed Carrard.

In addition, he said, Anton Geesink of the Netherlands had been issued a warning.

Members who resigned last week were PirjoHaeggman of Finland and Bashir Mohamed Attarabulsi of Libya.

Rene Essomba, an IOC member from Cameroon who died last year, also was mentioned in the investigation’s findings. It was news that his daughter, Sonia, had received a scholarship from the Salt lake bidders to attend American University that touched off the scandal.