Fascism and honour make poor Olympic stablemates

THE corruption scandal within the once-hallowed halls of the International Olympic Committee, like an oil spill from a broken tanker, remorselessly spreads wider and wider. Be it in the morning newspaper, on the Net or television we are now being fed daily more details of bribery and greed among the once proud and powerful men who ruled most sport in most countries in the world. The words fascism and honour cannot go together so it would have been expecting too much for the autocratic, ageing Juan Samaranch to resign as details of the grasping, money-grabbing chicanery of some of his chosen cohorts was bared for the world to see. The IOC president did not do anything when two bribery attempts were directly reported to him and had his chosen few work to ensure that rules were changed so that he could safely hang on to his life of power and luxury long after he should have been retired through age. Now he puts what remains of his Olympic future on the line through a democratic vote at an upcoming IOC meeting. Democracy and fascism? Another interesting couplet. Despite the damning indictments which have now coiled round the IOC, I would be in no way surprised if Samaranch and whoever of his minions remain as yet undetected, are working the delegates to ensure that the Spaniard remains in power. Of course, he should not. Any self-respecting official who has presided over a body such as the IOC and seen the evidence that has come out of such widespread corruption would have to step down and shoulder some of the responsibility whether or not he was directly involved. And there have been no denials from Samaranch that he did not order an investigation into the two bribery attempts directly reported to him. That is enough in itself to have him removed. But Samaranch, an unlovely individual judging from the incisive, investigative reports which have appeared in recent days about Spanish dictator General Franco's former henchman, will not willingly give up his life of power, prestige and absolute luxury. Hopefully, it will be taken away from him. But Samaranch, distasteful though he may be, is but one man while this whole ghastly spread of corruption, seemingly across the Olympic globe, strikes what should be a lethal blow at a concept once so golden and now so gross. Is corruption endemic to the Olympic movement? Evidence suggests that it may well be so. How long has it actually been going on? Nagoya burned papers to avoid IOC embarrassment. If we go back 20 years or more, was it going on then? Most of these questions will never be answered, so we are left with whatever action is now taken. Resignations and dismissals have already rent the higher echelons of IOC power and more, hopefully, will follow. But is there any real hope for this deeply flawed movement? The last Olympics were held in Atlanta. The capital of Georgia is not one of the earth's great cities. It is known for having been burned in the Civil War and immortalised in Gone With The Wind - and being the home of ubiquitous Coca-Cola and CNN. It would be fairly safe to suggest that had Pepsi Coca been headquartered there, the last Olympics would have been held elsewhere. There is more to corruption than an IOC member holding out his hand for money, schooling, land deals and health care from representatives of a city bidding for the summer or winter Games. There is corporate power, sponsorship muscle - and where they want the Games to be, regardless of what country may actually deserve them. I am reminded of the delegate from Chile before FIFA when a decision had to be made as to the host country for the 1962 World Cup finals. The South American country had been pencilled in for the tournament but an earthquake had wreaked havoc. Worried FIFA executive committee members suggested to the Chilean that such was the state of the country after the earthquake that they could not put on the World Cup. 'No, it is for that very reason that we must have it. For our country's people,' he replied. They got it. Such an understanding view would not come from the commercially driven IOC, but it is not without some pleasure that I witness the daily squirming and the distinct prospect that the entire Olympics operation is going to be very hard hit. Those sponsors to whom they kow-tow, are now running understandably scared. A pariah dog has more chance of getting an affectionate pat than a bad-news sports body getting unqualified, big-money support from sponsors. Sydney may well suffer and so it should. The Chinese claim that they played fair in the bid for Beijing - well, they would claim so, wouldn't they? But maybe it's true - and they lost by two votes which, coincidentally, could have been garnered just one day before when two African countries were offered considerable funding for sports development if the Australian city got the nod. It is impossible not to have the 2000 Games in Sydney, and anyway why should they lose them? Unfortunately for them, they were found out but it is $100 to 10 cents that a long list of host cities that have gone before them did much the same - possibly much worse - but it stayed secret. It is only a few short weeks ago that the lid was just partially lifted on what has been the ultimate Pandora's Sporting Box. The IOC has been damned and rightly so. The Olympics, flawed by drug-taking on a massive scale, reflects merely the body that controls the four-yearly event. Rotten - virtually from top to bottom.