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Scandal puzzles IOC whistle-blower
By Doug Robinson
Deseret News columnist
Marc Hodler, the man who uttered the "B-word" in the early stages of the Salt Lake bribery scandal, can't understand it.
Salt Lake City has the Olympic Games — "the greatest" ever, according to him — yet the men who played the biggest part in winning the bid are being pursued by federal investigators because of how they won the bid — with gifts and graft and scholarships, etc.
Thanks for the party — now go to jail.
Ironically, Hodler says Salt Lake City would not have the Games if bid leaders Dave Johnson and Tom Welch had not showered favors and gifts on the International Olympic Committee.
"It is quite clear that if Salt Lake City hadn't accepted these offers with the conditions attached, another city would have these Games," he says. "If that package of votes had not been offered to Salt Lake, the Games would not be here."
It was in late 1998 that Hodler, who headed the IOC coordination committee for Salt Lake's bid, breathed life in the scandal by calling it "bribery" just as outrage in the United States was beginning to wane. He says now that he didn't use that B-word, but he was widely quoted at the time as saying, "It's not wrong to say it's a bribe. It's a bribe."
Of course he also said at the time, "If there's a city in the world that didn't need (graft), it was Salt Lake."
Good luck figuring it all out.
Hodler was effusive in his praise of Salt Lake City's Winter Games as he sat in the lobby of the Grand America Hotel. For years, he advised former IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch not to bestow his traditional "Best Olympic Games Ever" blessing at the closing ceremonies because, while it made one city happy, it made every previous Olympic host city unhappy. So Hodler finds it amusing when he calls Salt Lake City the best Games, even though he doesn't want new IOC President Jacques Rogge to announce it at the closing ceremonies (and Rogge says he won't).
"This is the best Winter Games ever," he says. "Everybody agrees. Absolutely. They're wonderful."
He notes the proximity of a large city to the ski slopes, the wide streets, the good weather, major highways to the venues, modern spacious facilities, organization and planning, the efficiency and friendliness of volunteers, among many other pluses.
Hodler, who has twice testified before federal investigators regarding the bid scandal and recently was interviewed by "60 Minutes," came to the defense of Johnson and Welch.
"They brought the Games to Salt Lake City and to America," he says. "I don't understand why an investigation was launched. I should like to point out that neither the IOC members nor the bid committee violated any laws. It's not illegal. It's campaigning. (Johnson) was just a patriot to get the Games. . . . I told (federal investigators) the same thing as you. . . . The people of Salt Lake should be proud that Dave and Tom brought the Games here. You have a word here — scapegoat."
Hodler, as he has noted before, says Johnson and Welch were simply doing what certain IOC members were telling them was required to win their votes. "It was not unethical on their part (Johnson's and Welch's); it was unethical on the part of the IOC members," says Hodler. "It was clearly against the charter and oath that they (the IOC members) took."
Johnson and Welch have been blamed as solely responsible for Salt Lake's role in the bid scandal, a fact that many find ludicrous. Hodler says, "Dave was very, very loyal to IOC members. Those who know him (in the IOC) feel bad. I couldn't believe it. There is no law against campaigning and lobbying."
For his part, Hodler has paid his own price for speaking out. Some observers believe that Switzerland, his homeland, did not get the 2006 bid because of his outspokenness.
"You have to fight for what you believe," he says. "I had nothing much to be lost. I lost some friends. But I don't mind. My dog loves me."
Hodler, sounding like the lawyer he is, says he believed for years that there was deal-making going on behind the scenes, but he couldn't prove it. He says his first reaction when the Salt Lake scandal broke was, "Now we finally have proof." It all worked out for the best: "Salt Lake got the Games, and we had the possibility to clean our own house."
But is it clean? "Since Sept. 11," he says, "all countries are fighting terrorism, but no one can be sure there will be no more terrorists." He lets this sink in, and says, "But it's certainly improved."
Doug Robinson column runs daily during the Olympics. Please send e-mail to drob@desnews.com
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February 22, 2002
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