THE shameless Juan Antonio Samaranch, an autocratic ex-fascist who rules the Inter national Olympic Committee (IOC), may yet have played a part in bringing that besmirched body to its knees.
Countless genuine sports lovers around the world, who have despaired of the Olympic movement after the sordid tales of corruption coming from Lausanne, will have been heartened by news from America last week.
The arrogant Samaranch must have felt it beneath him to appear before a US Senate Commerce Committee hearing into the IOC corruption scandal and refused to attend.
It was not a move which endeared him to those on the committee. Certain senators called for Samaranch to resign - adding their voices to so many others around the world who wish wholeheartedly to see the back of the Spaniard.
Any genuine sportsman faced with the glaring evidence of corruption within a body of which he is the head would have felt honour-bound to resign. Logically, of course, one therefore concludes that Samaranch is without honour. Few would quibble with that observation.
What makes the present situation very threatening for the Olympic movement is that America - by and large - funds the entire operation.