Sydney Cleared In IOC Shakeup

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

February 2, 1999 / 4:32 PM EST / CBS Sportsline

The International Olympic Committee on Tuesday cleared Sydney of any wrongdoing in connection with financial inducements offered on the eve of Sydney's selection as host of the 2000 Summer Games.

Jacques Rogge, the IOC executive board member with oversight over the 2000 Games, reviewed the documents of Sydney's bid with Australian Olympics chief John Coates.

"Everything is clear," Rogge said. "It was legal, legitimate and according to the rules. There is absolutely no problem in the way it was done."

"No cash money was given, no under the table payment," Rogge said. "Everything was straightforward."

Coates disclosed 10 days ago that he had offered $70,000 in inducements to two African IOC members the night before the 1993 vote on the 2000 host city. Sydney beat Beijing by two votes.

Coates said the payments were made to bolster sports in Kenya and Uganda as part of an African aid program. The offer, made to the two IOC members from Kenya and Uganda, was contingent on Sydney winning the bid.

The revelations came amid the bribery scandal surrounding Salt Lake City's winning bid for the 2002 Winter Games. The IOC said it would examine the Sydney bid but stopped short of opening a formal investigation.

"No single dollar was paid to Kenya before the election of Sydney in Monte Carlo in 1993," Rogge said. "Everything was done afterward, so there is absolutely no link between money being given and the vote.

"Sydney did nothing illegal, and Sydney did what the other bid committees did. There's no difference in what Sydney did and the other bids. All the other bids had an NOC (national Olympic committee) support scheme."

Coates said the Australian Olympic Committee had a program to provide scholarships to athletes and coaches from 11 African countries. As of Dec. 31, 1998, scholarships had been provided for 56 athletes and 46 coaches at a cost of nearly $1 million, he said.

Concerns have been raised over Australia's payments to the Kenyan Olympic Committee, whose IOC delegate Charles Mukora has been ousted in connection with the Salt Lake scandal.

Coates said two payments totaling $13,146 had been transferred to help fund junior Kenyan track and field teams in Australia. A third payment of $7,996 had been transferred to an account set up in the name of the Charles Mukora Sports Foundation in 1997, he said.

Coates sait the AOC was still trying to ascertain what the third payment had been spent on. He said the remaining money would be withheld if there is no clear explanation from the Kenyan Olympic Committee.

Rogge said the IOC should now review the question of aid offered through Olympic bid committees. He suggested the possibility of prohibiting financial assistance to countries with IOC members.

Meanwhile, Rogge said he would go ahead with his trip to Sydney later this month. The visit had been intendedin part, as a mission to gather facts about the Sydney bid.

"We are going to Sydney as a gesture of showing commitment from the IOC," Rogge said. "There is no inquiry whatsoever. I've cleared everything with John. There is no further need to look into papers."

The announcement was greeted with relief by Kevan Gosper, the IOC executive board member from Australia who had initially suggested the inducements could be viewed as a serious breach of rules.

"I'm extremely happy this has been resolved to clarify that the rules weren't broken by the Sydney bid team, and that it's off the agenda," Gosper said. "It eliminates any doubt about an inquiry extended to Sydney. It will enable Sydney and Australia to get its focus on the preparations for the Olympic Games."