IOC Members Face Expulsion

Olympic leaders recommended the expulsions of six IOC members Sunday in an unprecedented response to the biggest corruption scandal in the history of the games.

Three other members remained under investigation, and a fourth was warned about his actions by the ruling executive board, IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch said.

Samaranch announced the action at the end of 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 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," Samranch said.

He also said a third IOC member already had resigned in the scandal, later identified by IOC director general Francois Carrard as David Sibandze of Swaziland.

Samranch said that the 2000 Summer Games would remain in Sydney and the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake, despite the scandal that now encompasses both cities.

Samaranch said the IOC would form an ethics commission and continue the corruption investigation in other cities.

And, while he said he had no plans to resign, the IOC president 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 board recommendations. 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."

Still under investigation were Louis Guirandou-N'Diaye of the Ivory Coast; Kim Un-yong of South Korea and Vitaly Smirnov of Russia, Carrard said.

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

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

The IOC also had been expected to announce changes in the Olympic host city selection process. But it limited action for the time being to the choice for the 2006 Winter Games, to be made in June.

Carrard said visits by members to the six bid cities would be banned and leaders of the bid cities would be prohibited from visiting the committee members.

The selection of the city will be made by an "election committee" consisting of eight IOC members, three athletes, one winter sports representative, one national Olympic officil, the IOC's longest-serving member and the chairman of the 2006 evaluation commission.

No members of the executive board, the single most powerful panel in the IOC, will be part of the selection group, Carrard said.

He said the panel would be headed by Samaranch but that the IOC president would have no vote.

The process will be used as a trial for future votes, Carrard said. For 2008 and beyond, he said, the procedure will be decided after the 2006 vote.

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