Sponsors watch Utah-Olympic scandal

SALT LAKE CITY— Amid the revelations of corruption surrounding the Olympics, the high-priced constituency that finances the games is getting anxious.

Some corporate sponsors, which bank millions of dollars on the Olympics’ reputation of honor and integrity, have urged Olympic officials to hurry and fix any problems that threaten to tarnish the image of the worldwide event.

“We’ve expressed our concerns to the International Olympic Committee and they assured us they will take swift and decisive action and we will monitor them to ensure that,” said Ben Deutch, spokesman for Coca-Cola, a longtime and influential sponsor of the Olympics.

The IOC has responded with an investigation into allegations that its members sell their votes, with particular focus on Salt Lake City’s bid for the 2002 Winter Games.

And on Friday, Salt Lake Olympic organizers announced an independent investigation, with the results to be made public no later than Feb. 11.

“I think the steps taken today by the executive committee to refer this matter to the ethics board will be a matter of reassurance to sponsors,” said Frank Joklik, president of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee.

More than two dozen top-level sponsors will cover more than $600 million of the event’s estimated $1.4 billion budget.

The U.S. Olympic Committee has suggested the possibility of opening its own investigation into Salt Lake’s bid. And the FBI confirmed that it, too, was reviewing the allegations to determine whether to open a formal investigation.

Charges of bribery and corruption by IOC members have steadily escalated since the revelation three weeks ago that the Salt Lake committee paid the college tuition of at least six relatives of IOC members during the bidding to host the 2002 Winter Games.

The son of Libyan IOC member Bashir Attarabulsi, who is attending Utah Valley State College, told a newspaper his father would never sell his vote. He said checks for his tuition and books stopped coming two weeks ago.

“People think it is bribery. For us as Muslims, it is forbidden and we would not accept that,” Suhuel Attarabulsi, 26, was quoted as saying in Saturday’s Deseret News. “My dad, he knows God is watching him all the time.”

But a senior IOC member, Marc Hodler of Switzerland, said a week ago that Salt Lake used the scholarships and other favors to bribe IOC members. He has added that he believed Salt Lake and other recent bid cities were victims of extortion by greedy IOC members and their agents, although he did not name names. IOC officials have said Hodler has offered no evidence to prove his claims.

Over the past week, more revelations cropped up of Salt Lake bid officials currying favor with IOC members with expensive gifts.

The IOC has reassured Salt Lake organizers that the 2002 Winter Games will stay in Utah.

But sponsors agree that the mounting allegations and admissions make them uneasy about their investment.

“As an Olympic sponsor, we are very concerned that the Olympics keep the proper perspective and any allegation raises a concern,” said Bill Berry, spokesman for Delta Air Lines.

Another Salt Lake sponsor, regional telecommunication giant U S West, is more pointed in its concerns.

“The seriousness of this is we make large, significant investments in the Olympic brand, so whenever there are issues around those ideals and standards, that concerns us,” said Randy Lynch, head of Olympic programs for the phone utility.

Lynch said the company will closely watch how the IOC and the Salt Lake committee handle the scandal and then will review its Olympic involve”We’re looking for them to do what’s right for the Olympic movement and we will keep an eye out for that,” said Deutch, of Coca-Cola.

“There’s no reason to believe it won’t be handled appropriately.”

Associated Press