PARIS -- Jean-Claude Ganga, the senior African Olympic official implicated in the Salt Lake bribery scandal, has denied any wrongdoing.
Ganga, an International Olympic Committee member from the Republic of Congo and head of the association of African national Olympic committees, defended his actions in a weekend interview with French radio."I have done nothing wrong," Ganga said. "I will not become rich because I voted for Salt Lake City. That is why I am so serene."
Ganga said Salt Lake City did not secure the 2002 Winter Games by bribery but "because they were the best."
The Associated Press reported last week that Ganga made a $60,000 profit on a Utah property deal arranged through the Salt Lake bid committee that secured the 2002 Winter Games.
Ganga purchased the three residential lots in September 1995, three months after the IOC awarded the games to Salt Lake City.
Ganga's purchase and sale of the properties is being investigated by a Salt Lake Olympic Committee ethics panel looking into allegations that IOC votes were bought during the bid.
In the interview with Radio France Internationale, Ganga described the real estate deal as "normal" and said it "happened a long time after the vote. Therefore, it couldn't have influenced me."