Word: samaranch
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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JUAN ANTONIO SAMARANCH Embattled Olympic Committee prez wins vote of confidence--and Don King wasn't even involved...
...voted to expel six members implicated in the taking of hundreds of thousands of dollars in graft during the site selection process for the 2002 games. At the same time, the committee overwhelmingly voted to express its confidence in the leadership of its embarrassed and embattled president, Juan Antonio Samaranch. The votes were expected, says TIME assistant managing editor Howard Chua-Eoan:"The committee knew it had to do something, but it still wanted to express confidence in its leader...
...ultimate blame must rest with IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch, who has long ignored rumored improprieties, failed to enforce conflict-of-interest guidelines and through his own example fostered a bid system built on bribes and lavish gifts. Samaranch, who receives no salary from the IOC, has admitted that his extravagant lifestyle, one rivaled only by heads of state, costs the IOC, benefactors and host cities hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. (Others place estimates in the millions.) Samaranch has defended those gifts, saying they do not constitute a conflict of interest because he lacks a vote in selecting...
...Samaranch is hardly free from being influential. He is one of the few individuals in the world (perhaps along with Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan) who can determine the entire fate of economies with a few choice words. A man so influential and powerful cannot be accepting a $16,000 Samurai sword from Nagano or a $300,000 international peace prize from Olympic affiliates in Seoul. And he cannot do so without expecting the IOC rank-and-file to follow his example. The Barcelona gentleman should do what many have been calling on him to do: step down...
...most despicable thing about Mr. Samaranch and Olympic leaders is that they have enjoyed their extravagant lifestyle behind the facade of the "Olympic movement" and the purity of sport. The reality is that, at the premier level, there is no more purity in sport. Athleticism and competition have taken a back seat to money and entertainment. And someday soon, our beloved institutions of sport may go the way of the ancient Greeks...