How did the International Olympic Committee become a corrupt organization?
Author: Talib Aliyev, analyst, especially for "Sangar"
The Russian leader, speaking at a meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club, gave a clear assessment of the current leadership of the International Olympic Committee, noting that the IOC, under external pressure, “has turned into some kind of circus performers.” This point of view is currently shared by a significant number of sports officials.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is an organization designed to unite the world through sport and promote the ideals of fair play. However, recently, the IOC has increasingly found itself at the center of scandals related to corruption and bribery, which has caused mistrust and criticism from athletes, participating countries and the general public.
Back in the 1990s, are to struggle to host the 2000 and 2002 Olympics, numerous accusations of corruption, bribery and extortion against IOC members surfaced. One of the famous cases is related to the President of the National Olympic Committee of Australia John Coates, who was accused of bribing IOC members from Kenya and Uganda for votes in favor of Sydney in the fight for the right to host the 2000 Games. Although Coates himself did not deny the "material assistance", claiming that it was not prohibited, the very fact of his participation in corruption schemes caused sharp criticism.
In addition, the head of the Australian NOC was also involved in the most high-profile scandal with Salt Lake City and the fight to host the 2002 Winter Olympics. As a result of accusations of bribery, corruption and extortion, 10 IOC members resigned, and another 10 people were subject to other sanctions. Independent auditor Tom Sheridan described the corrupt activities of other organizing committees in his report, emphasizing that in the 1990s the IOC was riddled with corruption. "We gave IOC members cookies and cowboy hats, while the Japanese gave them computers. IOC members came to Nagano to inspect Olympic sites, but in reality they lived in luxury hotels and bathed in sake and sushi brought to them by geishas in kimonos," one American official said about the Nagano 1998 Organizing Committee's bid.
The problem of corruption in sports can have serious consequences, as can be seen in the example of Japan's refusal to host the 2030 Olympic Games. Despite the fact that Japan was considered the favorite in the race, the facts that have recently become public greatly influenced the decision. And the desire of the Japanese themselves to host a large-scale sporting event. As it became known, bribes were taken in 2020 for everything - for the right to be a sponsor, to produce mascots, for advertising contracts. Moreover, Tokyo is generally suspected of bribing the IOC. And now, a year and a half later, Japanese prosecutors have opened criminal cases against six companies and seven officials. Japan's disappointment is so great that all this may lead to the country abandoning the fight for the 2030 Olympics, which the Japanese wanted to hold in Sapporo.
In 2022, South Korean Ho Kim, who headed the marketing and public relations department at the World Taekwondo Federation and then spent 10 years as executive director of the International Amateur Boxing Association, told The Times that he was personally involved in transferring bribes to IOC members for the inclusion of taekwondo in the Olympic program, and also handed out $500,000 for the purpose of election rigging. He also claims that in Athens in 2004, a bribe of one million dollars was demanded for Olympic boxing gold, and that Azerbaijan paid ten million dollars in the form of a loan when it was offered a gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics.
These stories confirm that the problem of corruption in sport is deep-rooted and requires decisive action. International sports organizations must take stronger measures to combat corruption to restore confidence in sport and ensure the integrity of competitions. Otherwise, the Olympic Games risk turning from a triumph of sport into a triumph of corruption.
