'THE INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC Committee has cleaned up its house a little because of the scandals. But the Olympic Council of Asia is still living in the old days when they were treated like kings.' So says a veteran member of the regional body which will later this month start assessing Hong Kong's bid for the 2006 Asian Games.
The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), which comprises 42 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) which will decide in November whether the games go to Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, New Delhi or Doha in the Middle Eastern emirate of Qatar, has so far escaped the intense scrutiny which its parent body, the International Olympic Committee (IOC), has been under following a series of scandals last year.
But a South China Morning Post investigation has found that a key official of the OCA was embroiled in the controversy relating to the Salt Lake City bid for the 2002 Winter Olympics. Accusations of perks, patronage and politicking continue to swirl around the organisation.
Hong Kong's first encounter with the organisation's bureaucracy over its bid came just last month when one of the OCA's chiefs visited for a round of meetings. Director General Muttaleb Ahmad, a Kuwaiti, changed from his robes into a well-cut suit and seemed to enjoy his stay at the luxury Grand Hyatt.
He was invited to Chief Secretary for Administration Anson Chan Fang On-sang's Barker Road residence for a 30-minute chat and told reporters afterwards that he was impressed with the Government's and sports officials' co-operation on the bid. Diplomatically, he declined to comment on the city's chances against its three rival bidders.
No one chose to mention during the visit that Mr Ahmad had been named in an IOC report into the Salt Lake City bid scandal last year. The report said he was paid US$57,600 (about HK$448,000) as one of 'three or four' lobbyists hired to help the city's bid committee in the mid-1990s. There was no suggestion he was involved in any corruption or bribery. 'That is a closed subject,' he insisted, when contacted by the Post at the council's headquarters in Kuwait and asked about the report.