Olympic Credibility on the Line

Members of the International Olympic Committee reportedly have their backs up as they go into an extraordinary two-day session in Lausanne, Switzerland, starting Wednesday. They are reacting to demands for reform of the organization in the wake of the scandal over the selection of Salt Lake City, Utah, as the site for the 2002 Winter Games. The 100-plus members of the committee also must deal with the recommendation of their leaders to expel six IOC members for receiving cash, gifts or favors from the Salt Lake Organizing Committee.

Some in the IOC have attempted to shift the blame to Salt Lake City organizers, who were desperate to land the Winter Games after losing twice before. But exhaustive investigations strongly indicate that Salt Lake was not overtly soliciting votes, just doing what was expected in a long-standing “culture of improper gift-giving.” Salt Lake officials certainly were not forthcoming at the time about the extent of the favors and gifts, and their actions cannot be excused. The irony is that Utah would have won the Games without granting any special favors to IOC members and their families.

The IOC is a private organization and has always done pretty much what it wants. Some members are openly resentful that public officials, the media and potential Olympic sponsors are pushing the IOC for radical change. It is regrettably not certain that the committee will expel the six targeted members. It will be an even greater mistake if the committee ignores worldwide pressure to make the IOC a more democratic and open institution. The Olympic movement belongs to the world, and to its athletes. There is no place in modern society for a body that wields such influence while functioning as a closed aristocracy--one in which the president appoints the members, who in turn elect the president, and in which the members write their own rules.

The credibility of the Olympic movement is at stake in Lausanne this week. Either the IOC launches an acceptable reform program or one will be imposed on it by Olympic commercial sponsors, international sports federations and national Olympic committees.

One IOC member says the committee will always bear the stain of the Salt Lake affair. Perhaps. But if the IOC reacts credibly and forcefully this week, Salt Lake 2002 could become the symbol of a bright new future for the Olympic movement.