IOC acts quickly, suspends Bulgarian accused in bribery

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Pursuing a "zero tolerance" policy against corruption, the IOC suspended a senior Bulgarian sports official accused of misconduct Saturday and revoked his credentials for the Athens Olympics.

Four lobbyists implicated in alleged vote-peddling for bid cities were also barred from the games.

Determined to avoid any repeat of the Salt Lake City scandal, the International Olympic Committee acted swiftly to deal with suggestions of bribery in a BBC television program on the bid campaign for the 2012 Summer Games.

"I'm more than disappointed — I am an angry man," IOC president Jacques Rogge said. "I am angry at the behavior of some people within and without the IOC. The behavior of some people is tarnishing what is a wonderful movement. . . . It's always very sad to see some individuals don't respect the rules."

Bulgarian IOC member Ivan Slavkov was secretly filmed by an undercover BBC television crew discussing how votes could be bought. The program, aired Wednesday in Britain, also featured four middlemen who said they could secure IOC members' votes for money.

New York, Paris, London, Madrid and Moscow are vying for the 2012 Games. The IOC will select the host city in July 2005.

The IOC ethics commission submitted a report on the case at the opening of a two-day executive board meeting. The board accepted the panel's recommendations to "provisionally suspend" Slavkov of all his IOC rights and functions pending a full inquiry.

Slavkov contends he knew it was a setup and played along to expose what he thought was a real attempt to corrupt the process — a defense rejected by the ethics panel.

The IOC also withdrew Slavkov's credentials for the Athens Olympics, which begin Aug. 13. The 64-year-old Slavkov, who heads Bulgaria's national Olympic committee and soccer federation, had been scheduled to arrive Sunday to attend the three-day IOC general assembly beginning Tuesday.

"This is a very unpleasant situation for Bulgaria," Bulgarian sports minister Vasil Ivanov told state radio in Sofia. "I hope this will not affect our athletes' morale at the games."

Under the IOC charter, the executive board can suspend any members "who, by their conduct, jeopardize the interests of the IOC."