World

Olympic Taint Grows

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

March 14, 1999 / 5:43 PM EST / CBS

Months after the Olympics were tainted by their worst-ever scandal, long-awaited International Olympic Committee reforms were supposed to come this week from a Switzerland meeting. It was hoped that the gathering of the IOC General Assembly would remove the taint that has hounded the Games since allegations of votes-for-favors first surfaced in Salt Lake City's bid to host the Winter Olympics.

But instead of things becoming cleaner, reports CBS News Correspondent Mark Phillips, there is more dirt. Behind the fancy promotion lies an increasingly messy scandal that the IOC seems increasingly unable to fix.

The latest investigation into next year's Australian games has also shown that rules were broken and that favors were used to buy votes. On Monday, two more members of the committee were accused of wrongdoing. All-expense-paid visits to Great Barrier Reef resorts were among the enticements.

The Australians initiated their own investigation this time and it ,too, found the Olympic movement wanting.

"Guidelines are unclear and ambiguous in many respects. The IOC did not monitor bidding cities' adherence to the guidelines. They were ignored by a great number," said the independent report, which was compiled by Australian lawyer Tom Sheridan.

Back at IOC headquarters this week, the committee is trying to prove it can clean its own house.

Its executive committee will meet to vote on expulsion of members previously named as receivers of improper favors. And more have now been named in a further investigation.

But there is a problem. Some of those named have declared that they will not go quietly.

Committee member John Claude Ganga, for example, is accused of taking cash and free medical care from Salt Lake City. But over the weekend, he insisted to CBS News that he was innocent.

The dirty linen will be hung out at an IOC meeting this week where the full membership will vote on whether to kick people like Ganga out. He has vowed to defend himself.

Meanwhile, the ability of IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch to clean up the mess that many think he is directly responsible for is in doubt.

More and more, there are calls for the IOC not just to expel corrupt members but to undergo a complete reform, to make it more accountable, more transparent and more democratic.

Thus far, many believe these are concepts with which the IOC is not familiar.