Reports say that the bid team for London 2012 has backed the International Olympic Committee (IOC) over their handling of a television documentary which will allege “improper conduct” of one of its members. According to reports the documentary was to air next week.
London 2012 officials and its Chairman Lord Coe have distanced themselves from undercover reports from the BBC program “Panorama”, who allegedly approached individual IOC members claiming to represent East London business interests, offering inducements for a London vote.
Although it’s not believed the program found any impropriety on behalf of the London bid team, it is thought an IOC member acted outside the strict regulations for accepting gifts which were imposed by the IOC following the Salt Lake City scandal.
According to PA Sport the IOC has already referred the matter to their Ethics Commission and London 2012 chief executive officer Keith Mills has written to them enclosing copies of correspondence between the bid team and the Panorama producers which “reaffirms the bid’s total commitment and adherence to the ethical rules of the IOC”.
Lord Coe said, “we have been made aware of allegations made by the BBC Panorama program following a so-called undercover operation in which representatives of the program claimed to be acting on behalf of East London business interests. London 2012 had no knowledge of the approaches being made apparently on behalf of London businesses. London 2012 has acted properly and ethically throughout the bidding process and we totally support the IOC’s’s decision to refer these allegations to the Ethics Commission. We have today sent all relevant correspondence on this matter to the Commission and will co-operate fully with any inquiry by the Commission”.
