Nine IOC Members May Be Expelled

Nine IOC members face possible expulsion for serious offenses in the Salt Lake City bribery scandal and four others must answer to lesser charges, Juan Antonio Samaranch said here Thursday.

The IOC president also said he has no intention of resigning, planning to stay in office “until the last minute” of his term, which runs until 2001.

Meanwhile, Alfredo La Mont, a senior official with the U.S. Olympic Committee, did resign, because of his relationship with the Salt Lake City bid committee.

In a statement, the USOC said it had accepted the resignation of La Mont, the organization’s senior director of international relations.

La Mont was the USOC’s main contact official with international sports federations and other Olympic committees as well as with the International Olympic Committee.

“Earlier this week,” the USOC statement quoted Executive Director Dick Schultz as saying, “Mr. La Mont provided us with information concerning a previously undisclosed business relationship with the Salt Lake Olympic Organizing Committee through the office of former SLOC President Tom Welch. [Welch resigned in 1997 amid allegations of spousal abuse, and his successor, Frank Joklik, and vice president Dave Johnson resigned last week as the bribery scandal widened.] We concluded that Mr. La Mont’s activities, which he indicated he pursued independent of his USOC responsibilities, nonetheless constituted a conflict of interest.”

On another front, Samaranch was less emphatic on whether the 2002 Winter Games would definitely stay in Salt Lake City, saying it was the IOC’s “hope” and “desire” that they go ahead in Utah.

He declined to name the IOC members identified in the scandal but said they fell into two categories--nine accused of serious matters and four of minor offenses.

He said the IOC sent letters this week, demanding explanations from the 13 members implicated in the inquiry and that four had replied. The deadline for the others is Tuesday.

A six-man IOC investigative panel will meet in Lausanne on Jan. 23, then report to the executive board the next day.

If investigators recommend that members be expelled, the board will suspend them immediately, Samaranch said.

Actual expulsion must wait until the next meeting of the full IOC assembly, scheduled in June in Seoul, South Korea.

The IOC leader said it was still uncertain what action would be taken against members cited for lesser violations.

Samaranch said the IOC has three priorities: to close the Salt Lake City scandal, adopt special measures for the bidding on the 2006 Winter Olympics, and change the voting procedure for all future site selections.

“The system we have today is not working,” he said. “We have to change the system.”

He said the changes could include selection of Olympic cities by the executive board or another small group, or conducting an open election among the entire 115-member IOC.

Samaranch appointed the panel last month to investigate allegations that IOC members received cash payments, scholarships, free medical care, lavish gifts and other inducements from Salt Lake City boosters.

At least seven IOC members have been linked to the Salt Lake City investigation by Olympic officials, investigators, press reports or the members themselves--Jean-Claude Ganga of the Republic of Congo, David Sibandze of Swaziland, Bashir Attarabulsi of Libya, Agustin Arroyo of Ecuador, Sergio Santander of Chile, Anton Geesink of the Netherlands, and Pirjo Haeggman of Finland.

Samaranch also said the IOC is considering a code of ethics to replace the ethics rules drawn up by Swiss executive board member Marc Hodler, who rocked the IOC last month with his allegations of widespread corruption.

“Maybe [Hodler’s rules] are not enough,” Samaranch said. “Maybe for the future, we must think to have an ethics code.”

Asked whether he could say with certainty that the games would stay in Salt Lake, Samaranch said, “I can speak only on behalf of the International Olympic Committee. The hope, the desire of the IOC, is that the games will go on as planned in Salt Lake City.”

Samaranch also said that the executive board will take up his proposal to ban IOC members from visiting Olympic bid cities. These trips, during which members are provided first-class flights, luxury hotel accommodations and other hospitality perks, are seen as a breeding ground for corruption.

Samaranch said the visits aren’t necessary because the IOC has experts who inspect the sites and compile reports on the logistical and financial merits of each bid. The cities also make presentations to the IOC at the session before the vote.

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In other Olympic developments:

* Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt said Olympic officials who took bribes must be punished.

“There needs to be some heads that roll at the International Olympic Committee,” he said. “They need to be expelled. This didn’t start in Salt Lake.”

Leavitt also said he has been assured by Samaranch that the Games will not be taken from Utah and that if revenues fall short because of the scandal, the IOC may need to “step up and help” financially.

* Michael Knight, state Olympics minister and chief organizer of the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney, Australia, said the Salt Lake City scandal might be keeping prospective sponsors from backing the Sydney Games, and echoed Leavitt’s call for IOC expulsions.

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Times wire service contributed to this report.