I saw this article in Yahoo and figured it was noteworthy to post. We DEMAND that our athletes compete clean without cheating (I SUPPORT THIS), yet our international Olympic governing body is continually pulling shenanigans such as this. When is enough…. enough? When should we demand a complete reorganization of the system?
Fri Jul 30, 7:52 AM ET Add Sports - Reuters to My Yahoo!
By Tristan Jones
LONDON (Reuters) - The International Olympic Committee said Friday it was investigating charges of "inappropriate conduct" in the 2012 Games bidding process.
The inquiry was set up after BBC television program Panorama said undercover reporters found evidence that IOC votes were being offered for sale, stirring memories of the corruption scandal that rocked the Olympic movement six years ago.
"During a year-long investigation, Panorama went undercover to find out what it takes to get the games, and it would appear that the answer is simple - cash," Panorama said in a statement two weeks before the 2004 Olympics open in Athens.
London, Paris, New York, Madrid and Moscow were named on a shortlist in May for the 2012 Games. The host city will be named in July 2005 after a vote by IOC members.
Panorama journalists posed as consultants acting for London businessmen who wanted the Games to be staged in the British capital, the statement said.
"The men who say they can buy these votes are veteran Olympic insiders: professional agents who, in the past, have been paid hundreds of thousands of pounds by previous bid cities to help get IOC votes," Panorama said.
BBC news also reported that the program, to be broadcast Wednesday, shows at least one IOC member flouting selection process rules for the 2012 Games. Panorama declined to comment on that allegation.
The IOC said the claims were being investigated by its ethics commission, set up in 1999 as part of an overhaul of the bidding process following the bribery crisis surrounding the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City.
"Given that this investigation is currently underway and that the IOC does not know the content of the BBC Panorama program and is waiting its broadcast, the IOC is not in a position to provide any further information at this stage," an IOC spokeswoman said.
An IOC investigation into the Salt Lake City scandal accused 13 Olympic officials of accepting bribes from bid organizers, forcing resignations from four IOC members, and the president and vice president of the Salt Lake City Olympic committee.
Rules governing contact between IOC members and bidding cities were tightened following the Salt Lake City affair.
