Corruption In I.O.C Essay, Research Paper

Almost 3000 years have passed when the Greeks first founded the Olympic games. On November 25th, 1892, the sacred time has come for the revival of the Olympics. It was then that Baron Pierre de Coubertin, as we read from the Revival of the Olympics, declared for the first time his wish for the revival, at the Union des Sports Athletiques:

Let us export our oarsmen, our runners, our fencers into other lands. That is the true Free Trade of the future; and the day it is introduced into Europe the cause of peace will have received a new and strong ally. It inspires me to touch upon another step I now propose and in it I shall ask that the help you have given me hitherto you will extent again, so that together we may attempt to realise, upon a basis suitable to the conditions of our modern life, the splendid and beneficent task of reviving the Olympic games . (Revival of the Olympics 1)

When Baron Pierre de Coubertin stated his will, had never thought that this perennial institution could ever be as much corrupted as it is today. The bribery scandals with the International Olympic Committee (I.O.C.) and the bid cities, and the drugs many athletes use, are two examples that I.O.C. members should consider more carefully about. However there are people inside the committee that support the opinion that these are baseless accusations.

One thing that the modern Olympics needed was good organisation. As we read from the Organization Of Modern Olympics foundation of the I.O.C. helped to avoid any exterior influences. The members of this committee were and still are totally independent; no instructions may be accepted, of any kind, from their government. It is an organisation that its members are elected for life and must speak French or English. Each country elects only one member to represent them in the committee. (Organization Of The Modern Olympics 1,2)

On the other hand, as it is written in organization of modern Olympics, apart from the I.O.C. each country that wants to participate in the Olympic games must have a National Olympic Committee. The reason of their existence is to enhance the Olympic spirit and the non-professional sports. It is their responsibility to organise their teams as far as the equipment, the housing and transportation is concerned. (Organization of the modern Olympics 1,2)

Sports illustrated published an article Breaking Point. Years of greed and corruption have cot up at Last with the I.O.C from which we learn about the most recent scandal concerning pays and briberies which occupied the mass media the last years is the one of Salt Lake city and how they finally managed to host the winter Olympic games of 2002. Even if Salt Lake Organising Committee (S.L.C.O.) members do not accept the accusations and support that they knew nothing about briberies, many evidence started to come in the daylight.

Salt Lake, Utah, is a city, which has repeatedly tried to become an Olympic hostess for 30 years, but always failed. The two opponent cities for the 1998 winter Olympics were Nagano and Salt Lake. The 94, then, I.O.C. members where surrounded by last minute gifts, computers, luggage, hats. But Nagano had in addition employed Takacs’s son, by giving him $363,000 and of course a bonus if they finally won the Olympics. As it was expected, Nagano won by only four votes against Salt Lake. S.L.O.C. then knew what they had to do. Four years later, Tom Welch was heading the committee. He tried to secure the Olympics for Salt Lake, by giving $400,000 in gifts at 14 members of the I.O.C. All these money were translated into scholarships, jobs, free housing, and cash. Most of the money went to scholarships for family members. And the figure kept rising. After a few weeks it was $800,000, mostly in cash and after a month it has already risen into $1,3 million. By that time, they have bribed 24 members. A quite large number, if we consider the fact that it was the 1/5 of the committee.

Eventually, the collaboration of Mr. Welch and Mr. Ganga was inevitable. They had a very close relationship, as the one was the gift giver and the other one the gift taker. From the $15 million that were spent into an effort of winning, the $250,000 was given to Mr. Ganga, according to a report of the Board of Ethics. (Breaking Point 1,2)

In an article of Ford Bob in Philadelphia Enquirer Olympic assembly 6 members and of Hersh Philip in Chicago Tribune Bribery Scandal in Salt Lake City Games results in Resignation we see that the scandal with the bribes had a very negative impact against the I.O.C s validity and totally destroyed the pure Olympic spirit. The committee decided that Salt Lake city would not lose the opportunity to host the Olympics, but that the process of electing the candidate city and the I.O.C. membership should finally change after the scandal. As the president of the I.O.C. Huan Antonio Samaranch himself said: ” Even if some of the conduct by the bidding cities has itself been unethical, it is the I.O.C. that is being judged, and the I.O.C. must deal with the situation.” So, the I.O.C. decided to expel 6 members accused for the most severe cases of bribery. Since the beginning of 1999, 10 members have resigned or expelled. The rest who were also involved got away with it due to lack of evidence. (Bribery Scandal Involving Salt Lake city games results in resignation 1, Olympic assembly 6 members 1)

People should not be too naive so as to believe that Salt Lake’s scandal is the only one. In a Time s article How the Olympics Were Bought we read that there are also other cities that did not win with a totally ethical way. In 1991, Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, one of the richest men at that time, when he had the idea of the Olympics in Nagano he immediately met with Huan Antonio Samaranch at Tokyo. The result was that Samaranch’s little dream of an Olympic Museum in Lausanne would be realised. Nineteen corporations from Japan, donated $20 million for the built of the museum. The next move was from the I.O.C. members who gave the Olympiad in Nagano. Samaranch claimed, that since none forced them to spend money for it, it had nothing to do with the Olympiad and himself. (How The Olympics were bought 2)

As far as other countries is concerned we know from the sports illustrated article Breaking Point that in 1992 in Paris, which then from Barcelona, another member, Ashwini Kumar of India got a free tour of Loire Valley castles and at the same time Lamine Keita of Mali got the use of an apartment in Paris.

Sydney could not be excluded. For the summer Olympics of 2000, they offered $35,000 to Charles Mykora of Kenya and Maj. Gen. Francis Nyargweso of Uganda. So as to help them decide easier what to vote for. The next day Sydney beat Beijing by two votes.

Berlin who was also candidate city for Olympic games 2000, gave two tickets $6,000 to Seinli Paul Wallwork. The second was never used but also never returned.

Switzerland contented the 2006 winter Olympics and an agent informed their committee that he could buy 25 votes for $2 million. (Breaking Point 2)

As it is stated at Hosenball Mark s article in Newsweek A new Olympic Mess the I.O.C. members could officially receive gifts from bid cities, if they do not exceed $200, and the free trip for them can last for no more than 5 days. Obviously the rules are mostly trampled. (A New Olympic Mess1)

Another very important event that has also augmented the corruption of the Olympic system is the use of drugs from many athletes who take part in the Olympic games.

An article from Newsweek The real Scandal gives an example of just one case. French cyclist Ervan Mentheour was once stopped for drug testing, when he was racing from Paris to Nice, and it came up that he has used erythropoietin (EPO), which increases the

athletes’ durability. His doctor and trainer tried to cover this before giving a sample. But there was little they could do. The test was positive and he was expelled from the race. He tried to convince the committee that his high amount of red cells was not an effect of the EPO but because he was dehydrated. Eventually he took part in the race. Doping is a real threat for all sports and mostly for the Olympic games, as they damage the whole image of the games. The I.O.C accused Charles Yesalis of Pennsylvania University, who is an expert in drugs, for knowing about them and hush them up for over 40 years.

New evidence support that I.O.C. and other organisations are rather soft on the matter of drugs. Many believe that also I.O.C. has covered up results that were positive, because

they did not want to stain the games. Unfortunately they still use tests, which do not give correct results. Doping has been forbidden since 1967. From 1968 the I.O.C. has been

making tests and the athletes who are caught under the influence of drugs are expelled and may lose all their medals. (The real scandal 1)

In Nicol John s article in Maclean s Saying no to the I.O.C:Tough Drug-Testing proposals get Watered Down sports is written that in the International Olympic Committee World Conference on Doping in Lausanne was suggested to be developed an international doping commission with certain test procedures, to prevent doping for at least a two-year period before taking part in any event. Unfortunately many parties did not agree with the idea, so nothing was decided on that matter. (Saying no to the I.O.C: Tough Drug Testing Proposals Get watered down sports 1)

On the other hand there are statements of members of the committee that ensure the public about the decency that prevails within the committee and that things will change as far as the doping and the bribing is concerned.

Breaking point writes that, as far as the Jean-Claude Ganga that confronted severe accusations, is concerned he stood up for himself. Mr. Ganga claimed that the cash he received was not for him, but for various Olympic Committees and that he actually helped the procedure, as the banking system of Congo was not reliable. On the same article Mr Samaranch said after the Salt Lake scandal : I am sincerely disappointed that IOC members were involved in the events revealed in the investigation and am deeply saddened by their conduct he also said that I will introduce globally accepted guidelines and procedures to ensure that the IOC conforms with the best practices in self-governance .(Breaking Point 1)

Finally, to conclude with, in my opinion, people cannot any more turn their backs on the evidence that prove the corruption of the Olympic games system. Not only for the briberies within the I.O.C’s members, but also for drug using from participating athletes. These two, as stated above, have a very close relationship as the I.O.C. many times covered positive drug tests. Will eventually be a time in the future where the Olympic games system will be pure and solid again?

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