The Olympic movement cleaned up its act after the Salt Lake City scandal although doubts remained and,as the IOC board meets in Lausanne, it could face a perfect storm with public cynicism over sport’s overlords reaching recent levelsAs its most high-profile member federations – cycling, and football,athletics – have fallen like dominoes amid ever more lurid (shocking; sensational) and jaw-dropping tales of corruption, cover-ups and money-laundering, or the International Olympic Committee has tended to retract on the stance of a disapproving parent. Arms folded,stern faced, lecturing: “We’re not angry, and just disappointed.”After the IOC faced down its own existential crisis in 1998 when the Salt Lake City scandal lifted the lid on the scale of bribery and gift-giving in its electoral circles going back decades,commentary on the travails of Fifa and the International organization of Athletic Federations has often suggested each was enduring its own “Salt Lake City moment”. The implication being that the IOC was now the gold (medal) standard to follow and that they should follow its lead. There is some logic behind the suggestion but it is far from the whole truth. The news that French police have now widened their investigation into corruption in athletics to include the bidding processes for the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 summer Games will reopen many traditional wounds.
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Source: theguardian.com