Steinbrenner in Line to Be a Vice President of USOC

As he is virtually everywhere he goes, New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner will be the center of attention at this weekend’s meetings of the U.S. Olympic Committee House of Delegates and executive board.

Steinbrenner, who has been active in the USOC in recent years as a private-sector member of the executive board, is expected to be elected today as one of three USOC vice presidents by the House of Delegates .

More suspense surrounds his report Sunday to the executive board on behalf of the Olympic Overview Commission, of which he was chairman. The eight-member commission has met 14 times since it was was formed last February by USOC President Robert Helmick to evaluate the U.S. Olympic effort.

Although the commission members agreed not to discuss publicly their recommendations until the report is delivered, their efforts are believed to have centered around methods of streamlining the USOC’s administration, improving its marketing capabilities and making more money available to athletes.

Specifically, it is believed that the commission will suggest a relocation of some staff members, particularly in the areas of marketing and public relations, from USOC headquarters in Colorado Springs to New York, and the establishment of a government liaison office in Washington.

Among the observers will be Juan Antonio Samaranch, president of the International Olympic Committee, who visited Atlanta Wednesday to discuss that city’s bid for the 1996 Summer Games and met with President Bush Thursday in Washington.

Helmick, a Des Moines attorney, has no opposition in his bid to remain as USOC president for the next four years. But three vice presidents will be chosen from among four candidates--Steinbrenner, Los Angeles attorney Michael Lenard, Colorado Springs businessman William Tutt and five-time track and field Olympian Willye White of Chicago.

The candidate for treasurer, Dr. LeRoy Walker of Durham, N.C., and the candidate for secretary, Charles Foster of Duxbury, Mass., are unopposed.

In other business, the executive board is expected to approve the largest budget in USOC history for the next four years, $248.8 million, which is almost $100 million more than the budget for the previous four years, and to ratify a proposed drug-testing agreement between the United States and the Soviet Union.