Is the International Olympic Committee serious about reform?
The IOC has the opportunity to demonstrate that sincerity by conducting a thorough investigation regarding one of its members, Australian IOC Vice President Kevan Gosper.At issue is a 1993 ski vacation Gosper's wife and two children took to Deer Valley. The trip, arranged by the Salt Lake Bid Committee, reportedly carried an $11,000 price tag.
Gosper has suggested that someone at the Salt Lake Bid Committee submitted a fraudulent claim for the trip expenses and that the visit, which he says was privately paid for by his wife, has "become the basis of inflated expense claims."
Gosper has said he has a canceled check for $2,000 for the lodging as well as credit card receipts for other expenses. Documents show that the Gospers were misled about the actual cost of the lodging. They were told the price was $275 a night, yet bidders appear to have paid $375. The actual value was believed to be much higher.
Finding the proper SLOC documents to either support Gosper's claims or call them into question is not bearing much fruit. As Barbara Lockhart, chairwoman of the SLOC Board of Ethics, noted, the bid committee's record-keeping is described as, "in many cases, incomplete and inadequate."
To try and sort out facts from allegations, the IOC Ethics Commission has appointed one of its members, former U.N. Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar, to head the investigation.
But Perez de Cuellar's objectivity is being called into question after he reportedly said he believes Gosper is innocent. His comments were made to reporters outside of the ethics commission's closed-door meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Still, the fact that the IOC Ethics Commission did not clear Gosper as expected earlier this month but instead decided to conduct an investigation is a good sign. And while Perez de Cuellar may personally believe that Gosper is innocent, that does not mean that the investigation will not be fair. The commission is bringing in an independent expert to help with the investigation.
Gosper should not be penalized for things he didn't do. The investigation may very well clear him of any wrongdoing.
The critical thing is that it be thorough and fair. That will do a lot to improve the credibility of the IOC.