BY STEPHEN WILSON
The Associated Press
LAUSANNE, Switzerland - The rumors about Olympic corruption have existed for years. On Saturday, a senior Olympics organizer came forward with sensational bribery allegations.
The International Olympic Committee's worst nightmare came to pass when Switzerland's Marc Hodler - a longtime member of the organization's ruling inner circle - detailed what he described as systematic buying and selling of the Olympic Games.
"To my knowledge, there has always, always, been a certain part of the vote given to corruption," he said.
It's the biggest ethics scandal in the history of the 104-year-old IOC and could have widespread repercussions for the Olympic movement.
Mr. Hodler specifically cited a pattern of bribery and other ethical malpractice in the bidding and selection of at least four Olympic host cities - Atlanta, Nagano, Sydney and Salt Lake City. He cited bribes of up to $1 million and payoffs of up to $5 million.
The IOC quickly "disassociated" itself from Mr. Hodler's allegations, saying he was voicing his personal opinions. However, the organization did not deny the charges.
The charges come not from a maverick or discredited official - but from one of the IOC's elder statesmen and close confidant of IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch.
Mr. Hodler, a Swiss lawyer who recently turned 80, has been on the IOC since 1963. Earlier this year, Mr. Hodler stepped down after 47 years as president of the International Ski Federation.
Mr. Hodler said he chose to go public with his corruption allegations because he hopes they lead to a radical reform of the Olympic selection process.
He said he is proposing that Olympic cities be selected by a small group, including members of the IOC executive board, rather than the full IOC membership in order to remove the possibility of vote buying.
At IOC headquarters, Mr. Hodler said he believed 5 percent to 7 percent of IOC members - currently numbering 115 - have solicited bribes from cities bidding to host the games.
He said a network of four "agents" - including one IOC member - have been seeking bribes to secure votes for Olympic bids. He gave no names.
Mr. Hodler said he believed the agents had been buying and selling votes for 10 years.
"The price would be between $500,000 and $1 million for a number of votes," he said, adding that agents charged the city winning the bid "something like $3 million to $5 million."
Asked whether all Olympic votes are tainted, Mr. Hodler said, "I know of so many times. There is a good chance it is always the case." Mr. Hodler said losing cities have told him there is a list of IOC members who can be bought.
Mr. Samaranch, who has been IOC president since 1980, has always denied allegations of corruption in the organization.
On Saturday, the IOC put out a written statement saying the "executive board disassociated itself from allegations made by one of its members with the Olympic bid process."
The IOC is investigating alleged financial misconduct by the Salt Lake City, Utah, group that won the 2002 games.
Mr. Hodler has described as a "bribe" the $500,000 scholarship fund set up by Salt Lake City that benefited the relatives of six IOC members.
Asked whether Atlanta's victory in the vote for the 1996 games was clean, Mr. Hodler said, "Certainly not."
Billy Payne, head of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games, denied the charges.
Mr. Hodler also leveled allegations against the head of the Athens, Greece bid, which lost to Atlanta in the 1996 vote. He said he didn't know of any misconduct in Athens' successful bid for the 2004 games.
Asked whether Sydney's election for the 2000 games was clean, Mr. Hodler said, "I would be surprised. I know what happened but I don't want to disclose it."
The former minister in charge of Sydney's 2000 Olympic bid revealed he was asked to offer bribes for votes. But Bruce Baird said he refused.
Olympics official says Games bought and sold
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