World

4th Olympic Official Resigns

January 22, 1999 / 4:44 PM EST / AP

Charles Mukora of Kenya became the fourth International Olympic Committee member to resign in the Salt Lake City bribery scandal, saying Wednesday that he stepped down "on principle."

"I was an innocent victim of circumstances. However, the president of the International Olympic Committee has advised us to tender our resignations before March 17-18 in order to put these allegations to rest," Mukora said. "I have decided therefore to accept his advice on principle."

On Sunday, the IOC named Mukora as one of nine IOC members who received under-the-table payments from Salt Lake City during its successful bid for the 2002 Winter Olympics. The IOC said Mukora received $34,650.

The organization, based in Lausanne, Switzerland, recommended the nine resign before they are ousted during the IOC board meeting in March.

Mukora, an IOC member since 1990 and also chairman of the Kenya Olympics Association and first vice chairman of the Commonwealth Games Federation, told the IOC panel the payments were made in support of "sports development in Kenya" and for "world youth sporting activities."

But the IOC concluded Mukora accepted the payment for "his personal benefit" and should be expelled.

Three members resigned last week: Pirjo Haeggman of Finland, Bashir Mohammed Attarabulsi of Libya, and David Sibandze of Swaziland.

Mukora was excluded along with Agustin Arroyo of Ecuador, Jean-Claude Ganga of the Republic of Congo, Zein El Abdin Ahmed Abdel Gadir of Sudan, Lamine Keita of Mali, and Sergio Santander of Chile.

Dutch member Anton Geesink received a warning.

Three others remain under investigation and face possible expulsion: Louis Guirandou-N'Diaye of Ivory Coast, Kim Un-Yong of South Korea, and Vitaly Smirnov of Russia.

Several Kenyan sports officials, including Isaiah Kiplagat, chairman of the Kenya Amateur Athletics Association, had called on Mukora to resign from all sports organizations.

While Mukora resigned, Keita, the expelled member from Mali, said he will defend himself and doesn't intend to resign.

"I'm a fighter by nature, not someone who resigns," Keita told the Swiss daily Le Matin in an interview published Wednesday. "I'm going to defend myself. The statutes give us the right."

The IOC investigation found that Keita "knowingly permitted" Salt Lake City bidders to make payments totaling more than $97,000 from 1993-97 to support his son at the University of Utah.