MOSCOW -- Kim Un-yong, the South Korean hoping to become
president of the International Olympic Committee, denies reports
that he has proposed giving members a minimum $50,000 a year in
work expenses.
Kim was quoted on USA Today's Web site and in Salt Lake City's
Deseret News as saying such funding would be needed by IOC members
to maintain an office and fulfill their duties.
The South Korean made his denial in a letter Sunday to the IOC's
ethics commission.
"I attach for your information a copy of my program which has
been confidentially distributed to the IOC members according to the
ethics code," Kim told the commission set up in the wake of the
Salt Lake Games bribery scandal. "I never proposed any figure in
this matter."
Kim is one of the favorites to succeed Juan Antonio Samaranch in
Monday's presidential election. Belgium's Jacques Rogge is widely
considered to have a slight edge. Canada's Dick Pound is the other
main contender.
Speaking to reporters, Kim said that he merely proposed that IOC
members be given the financial help and logistical support
necessary to meet their costs.
"IOC members are ambassadors of the Olympic movement," he
said. "They must be granted the status and privileges they
deserve. ... They must be given the logistical support to fulfill
their mission."
A statement from the ethics commission, headed by Senegalese
judge Keba Mbaye, said that such a proposal "would have exceeded
the limits of a candidate's program and represented a promise ...
forbidden by the directions concerning the election of the IOC
president."
Gerhard Heiberg, an IOC member from Norway, said he was unaware
of any proposals for lavish expenses and had not been approached by
any of the presidential candidates on the issue.
"I haven't been offered that so I don't know," he said. "But
if it is true, it is a catastrophe for the Olympic movement."
Since the 1999 Salt Lake scandal, which led to a wave of
expulsions and resignations, and ushered in reforms including bans
on visits to bidding cities, the IOC has been aware of the need to
polish its international image.
The flap took on special meaning because of Kim's recent
background. He was given a severe warning in the IOC's own internal
inquiry into Salt Lake. His son was accused of accepting a sham job
funded by bid committee officials.
In an effort to head off any allegations of attempted bribery,
Kim briefly showed reporters a copy of his election platform _
under IOC rules it is treated as a confidential document. He said
he was angered that details of his campaign proposals had been
leaked to journalists.
"Somebody's exploiting it," he said, blaming it on the "crazy
frenzy" of the election.
He said, as part of his proposed logistical support, IOC members
should be given administrative help and office space when they
visit the organization's headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.
"At the moment they have to knock on the door to use a
telephone or fax," he said.
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