LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- A powerful Olympic executive will not be expelled from the International Olympic Committee for accusing some IOC members of taking bribes.
Marc Hodler, a Swiss IOC executive board member, had suggested earlier Sunday that he might be ousted, and he had no intention of quitting.However, after meeting with IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch on Sunday, Hodler said he was still an IOC member.
"I shall not be expelled, no," he said.
Asked whether he now regretted his accusations of corruption, Hodler said, "Not at all. ... The cities have been the victim and not the villain."
Hodler said Saturday he believed four agents -- including one IOC member -- had been involved in vote-buying the past 10 years. He said he thought 5 to 7 percent of the IOC members -- currently numbering 115 -- were open to bribery.
He said there is one agent who boasts "that no city has ever won the Olympic Games without his help." The IOC said it was prepared to investigate Hodler's claims of bribery in the selection of Olympic host cities.
Hodler said Samaranch had ordered him to keep quiet. He said he was told not to appear at a scheduled routine news conference. Surrounded by reporters, photographers and television cameras, Hodler covered his mouth with both hands.
"I don't have the right to say anything," he said. "I'm not to say anything by presidential orders -- nothing."
Under Olympic rules, an IOC member can be expelled if he has "betrayed his oath" or "neglected or knowingly jeopardized the interests of the IOC or acted in a way which is unworthy of the IOC."
Expulsion requires a two-thirds majority vote of the full IOC assembly. The next IOC session is scheduled for next June in Seoul, South Korea.
Hodler was temporarily suspended from the IOC in 1968 by former IOC president Avery Brundage in a dispute over professionalism. Hodler supported the right of pro skiers to compete in the games, while Brudage was opposed.
Hodler's comments came as the leader of the Salt Lake organizing committee apologized Sunday for the alleged rules violations during the city's successful bid for the 2002 Winter Games.
Frank Joklik, president of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee apologized and accepted full responsibility for the scholarship program run by the group that won the bid for the games.
The program provided nearly $400,000 in tuition and other assistance to 13 individuals -- including six relatives of IOC members, mostly from Africa. Hodler has used the word "bribe" to describe the fund.
"With hindsight, I believe this program should not have been part of the bid campaign," Joklik said. "At the same time, it is important to remember that Salt Lake City won the bid on the merits, and not because of this program."
Joklik was chairman of the bidding committee at the time. The scholarship program was under the direction of the former bid president, Thomas Welch.
"Although I was not aware of the program, I must accept responsibility," Joklik said. "I apologize to the Olympic family and to the citizens of Utah for the embarrassment caused by the bid committee program."
Joklik defended the program as helping young people from developing countries to receive education and athletic training.
"However, it should not be done in a way that might possibly appear to influence improperly the voting of IOC members."
Joklik said the SLOC would cooperate fully with the IOC panel. He added that the SLOC's independent ethics board would also review the program.
"I will not hesitate to implement whatever steps are necessary .... to maintain the integrity of the games," Joklik said.
IOC officials declined to speculate on what -- if any -- sanctions might be taken against Salt Lake. But, for the first time, IOC vice president Dick Pound in effect ruled out any possibility of the games being taken from Utah.
Pound said the executive board expressed "complete, repeat, complete confidence" in the organizing committee.
"We are satisfied Salt Lake City won the 2002 games on the merit of the bid," he said.
Pound said the Salt Lake inquiry would be broadened to include investigation of Hodler's allegations that "agents" have approached bidding cities soliciting bribes of up to $1 million to procure votes of IOC members.
"What were are concerned with is whether there may or may not have been inappropriate conduct by some of our members or agents involved in the bid process," Pound said.
"We are aware there are agents and we are aware of the identity of at least some of them," Pound said. "What they've done or not done, we don't know yet."
Pound indicated the inquiry could be expanded to include Hodler's charges that the selection of at least three other Olympic cities had been affected by corruption -- Atlanta; Nagano, Japan; and Sydney, Australia.
"One is never sure where the trail will lead," Pound said. "At this moment, the focus is on Salt Lake City."