Following the acceptance of its multi-million dollar bid to host the 2006 general assembly of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) South Korea has been caught up in an ethics dispute.
Several IOC members on the ANOC board are concerned that the South Korean National Olympic Committee has offered an estimated $3 million to host the 2006 general assembly. South Korea has offered to pick up 250 business class airfares and cover half the cost of the hotels.
One senior ANOC executive board member said, “this is the first time that any city has ever offered to pay air fares and aid in hotel bills for an ANOC general assembly. While that may be very welcome for the finances of ANOC it raises serious ethical questions. South Korea, in the shape of Pyeongchang or some other area, will almost certainly be bidding for 2014. I can see where the ethics committee might suddenly tell us to change the venue for 2006”.
But Mario Vazquez-Rana, ANOC president and IOC board member, disagreed. He said, “as president I was thrilled. I have checked with the ethics commission and the IOC and there was no problem. We are very careful about those things”.
