(3/1/99)
NEW YORK (AP) _ An elite ethics panel concludes the IOC must keep a closer watch on its members and the cities bidding for the games, Olympic officials familiar with the investigation said today.
The five-member commission, headed by former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, failed to report any major new cases of wrongdoing in the worst corruption scandal in Olympic history, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity. But the 70-page commission report urged better policing of Olympic bids, both within the United States and globally.
The Mitchell investigation, which took more than two months, avoided placing blame for the million-dollar Salt Lake City bribery scandal, and the U.S. Olympic Committee escaped with virtually a slap on the wrist, the sources said.
It criticized the USOC for its handling of the activities of Alfredo La Mont, who resigned as its international relations director in January after it was revealed he did consulting work for Salt Lake Olympic bidders.
The report mentions an exchange of e-mails among La Mont and two other USOC officials that involved a training plan for Sudanese athletes that may have helped the Salt Lake bid, sources said. But the sources also said that no new allegations were brought up in that case and no actions were recommended against the other two officials, deputy executive director Tom Wilkinson and assistant executive director Jim Page.
The International Olympic Committee already has expelled five members and is investigating 13 others in connection with the case, stemming from Salt Lake's winning bid for the 2002 Winter Games. It has announced plans to radically change the way it selects Olympic host cities and even break its historic secrecy by submitting to frequent audits and issuing financial reports.
Mitchell said last week his panel would focus on future bids to try to make sure the vote-buying scheme of Salt Lake is not repeated.
The next games for an American city to bid on won't be held until 2012, but the route to those Olympics will be laid out today in Mitchell's report.
"The emphasis will be on recommendations for rules, compliance and enforcement which we hope, if adopted, will avoid a recurrence of the type of action that led to the creation of the commission," Mitchell said last week.
That probably will mean strict limits or the elimination of gifts from bid cities to IOC members, the heart of the Salt Lake scandal.
The United States, which staged the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta and will play host to the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake, won't have another chance until the IOC picks the city for 2012. Eight U.S. cities are vying to be the American candidate for that race, which will be decided in 2005.
Mitchell and the rest of his panel, including former White House chief of staff Ken Duberstein and baseball union leader Donald Fehr, refused to discuss details of their inquiry.
The commission submits its report to the USOC's executive board just before releasing it at a news conference. The USOC is to respond on Wednesday in Washington.
Mitchell's commission, a watchdog for the USOC, was appointed last year by committee president Bill Hybl. To underscore the commission's independence, no USOC officials will share the stage with Mitchell.
As with two reports into Salt Lake already released, Mitchell's commission lacked subpoena power and had to rely heavily on public record.
It received almost 200,000 documents from USOC files as well as responses from letters sent to some 400 present and former committee officials and staff members. The letter asked about gifts they received from Salt Lake or other cities hoping to be America's candidate for the 1998 and 2002 Winter Games.
All gifts, which could be as mundane as T-shirts or as extravagant as ski trips, are expected to be banned under upcoming USOC and IOC reforms.
Washington will keep a close eye on the Mitchell report and USOC response, plus action by a special IOC assembly in two weeks.
The Justice Department is investigating possible bribery, mail fraud and tax violations in the Salt Lake scandal, and the Senate Commerce Committee is considering hearings on the Olympics that could be aimed at punishing the IOC.
