IOC won't probe bid by Nagano

Findings that an "illegitimate and excessive level of hospitality" was handed out by Nagano in the Japanese city's successful bid against Salt Lake City for the 1998 Winter Games apparently won't be investigated by the International Olympic Committee.

"Events of a decade ago are history, and the IOC has drawn a line under the past," IOC communications director Giselle Davies said in a statement Wednesday about a new report on the bid ordered by Nagano Gov. Yasuo Tanaka.

"What matters," Davies' statement concluded, "is that today the IOC has the necessary measures and procedures in place to deal with any future unethical behavior, as and when it might occur."

It was as a result of the scandal surrounding Salt Lake City's next Olympic bid, for the 2002 Winter Games, that the IOC, based in Geneva, Switzerland, put those measures and procedures in place. Utah bidders were accused of handing out more than $1 million in gifts and other inducements to IOC members.

According to the findings of the Nagano Prefecture Investigation Group Report, revealed Monday by the Deseret Morning News, more than $4.4 million was spent to entertain IOC members during the bid.

And the report stated that nearly $544,000 in souvenirs were given out by the Nagano bid team, an average of about $5,700 per IOC member. At the time, IOC members were not allowed under their own rules to accept more than $200 each in gifts.

Nagano was awarded the 1998 Winter Games over Salt Lake City in a close vote by the IOC more than 14 years ago. The Salt Lake bid scandal did not surface for another seven years.

There had long been allegations that Nagano had lavished the IOC with everything from geishas to expensive electronics, but until the new report was released, all records related to the bid were believed to have been burned.

Salt Lake City, which kept meticulous bid records, was the subject of multiple inquiries, including one by the federal government that resulted in charges against the top two bid leaders, Tom Welch and Dave Johnson. The case against them was thrown out midtrial by a Utah judge.

The IOC created a special commission to investigate the allegations against Salt Lake that led to the ouster of several of the Switzerland-based organization's members and made other changes intended to curb the excesses, including banning travel to bid cities.

"The IOC has learned the lessons from past unethical behavior surrounding the bidding process," Davies said. "It has made inquiries, taken sanctions and most importantly implemented a series of reforms that have led to an accountable and transparent bidding process."

The English abstract of the Nagano report did not include specific information about the gifts and entertainment, nor did it name any IOC members involved. Olympic observers have said that would make it difficult, if not impossible, for the IOC to investigate.

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