Furnished With Answers, IOC Drops Bribery Probe

IKEAgate was a scandal that appeared to have legs--teak or oak, bleached or unvarnished--but that was before the IOC started asking questions and the Stockholm 2004 Olympic bid committee provided the right answers.

As bribery allegations go, it was inspired while it lasted, supposedly involving gifts of free build-it-yourself Swedish furniture to IOC voters in exchange for favorable consideration of Stockholm in Friday’s election to determine the 2004 Summer Olympic host city.

Stockholm officials spent two days denying the charge and Wednesday the IOC dropped the matter, along with the allegation that Cape Town also had committed a rules violation by offering free plane tickets to wives of IOC voters.

“This is a product of a certain climate,” IOC Director General Francois Carrard said. “As we get close to the vote, there are always rumors, plots and insinuations.

“It’s nothing new. It’s a sign of the process.”

Bjorn Unger, deputy CEO of the Stockholm 2004 committee, attributed the controversy to a “naively written” letter to IOC members that offered to “help people go to IKEA.”

What kind of help, precisely, was left open to interpretation.

Help with the cost?

Help with the shipping?

Or help with the at-home assembly--certainly an offer no IOC member could sensibly refuse?

“The IOC contacted me and said there’s a chance that this could be misinterpreted in other languages or cultures as a bribe,” Unger said. “I said, ‘If that’s the case, then we are banning that proposal.’ And that has been done. We have banned it.”

Cape Town officials admitted offering free first-class plane tickets to the wives of African IOC members, claiming such a gesture was within IOC regulations.

“We certainly do not see this as any violation,” said Kurt Hipper, treasurer of the South Africa Olympic Committee. “We made this offer to African IOC members, who we consider part of our bid. We have always said the South African bid is an African bid. They are part of our team, so we felt our offer was appropriate.”

Hipper said 19 African IOC members received the free plane-fare invitations and “three or four” accepted.

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Seeking maximum clout, to say nothing of heft, with its formal bid presentation, the Rome 2004 committee has enlisted opera singer Luciano Pavarotti to speak before the IOC Friday.

Cape Town, while remaining coy about the issue, is expected to counter with Nelson Mandela.

Each of the five finalists will have 55 minutes to make its case before the IOC electorate. After listening to the presentations, the IOC will close the door and vote, through process of elimination, for a 2004 host city.

Rome and Athens remain the favorites, but a possible speech by Mandela is seen as a powerful--perhaps the strongest--element in Cape Town’s bid.

Chris Ball, CEO for the Cape Town committee, reported that Mandela is currently in Switzerland on a state visit, but was evasive when asked by reporters if Mandela would speak on Cape Town’s behalf.

“That is a decision that still must be made by the Cabinet of South Africa,” Ball said. With a wry smile, he added, “We sincerely hope he will be a part of the team.”