Olympic corruption whistleblower Hodler dies

BERN, Switzerland — Marc Hodler, the Swiss IOC member who blew the whistle on corruption in the Salt Lake City Olympics bidding process, died Wednesday. He was 87.

Hodler, who was president of the international ski federation from 1951 to 1998, died in Bern after a "short, serious illness," his son Beat said.

The IOC said Hodler suffered a stroke Sunday.

Hodler's death came eight days before what would have been his 88th birthday.

"The IOC expresses its sadness at the passing of a member who dedicated so much to the Olympic movement," IOC president Jacques Rogge said in a statement after arriving on a visit to Tokyo. "Our thoughts and prayers are with Mr. Hodler's family."

Hodler, an IOC member since 1963, set off the bid scandal that led to the biggest ethics crisis in the history of the International Olympic Committee. In 1998, he detailed what he called systematic buying and selling of votes in the host city selection process for the 2002 Winter Games.

The crisis led to an unprecedented purge of IOC members, with six delegates expelled and four resigning for receiving improper gifts or benefits.

The IOC also enacted a series of reforms, including a ban on visits by members to bidding cities.

Hodler, a lawyer, was an IOC vice president from 1993 to 1997 and served four separate terms on the rule-making executive board.

Hodler was the first official to use the word "bribe" to describe the methods used by Salt Lake City to win the vote for the 2002 Games.

In November 1998, a Salt Lake television station obtained a leaked document disclosing that the city's Olympic bid team had set up a scholarship fund for the relatives of IOC members.

The story remained mainly a local controversy until two weeks later, when Hodler — the IOC official with oversight over the Salt Lake Games — raised the stakes by declaring that the college tuition payments amounted to bribes.

But Hodler was just getting warmed up.

On Dec. 12, 1998, he unleashed a series of corruption allegations that shook the IOC to its foundations.

The marble lobby of the IOC's headquarters was the setting for extraordinary scenes as Hodler, encircled by reporters, held court.