Marty Mankamyer, President of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), said she will appoint an independent panel to review the process by which the USOC’s chief executive, Lloyd Ward, was cleared of conflict of interest accusations.
Former U.S. Senator and presidential candidate Bob Dole has been suggested as a possible candidate to lead the independent investigation.
In an e-mail message sent yesterday to the USOC’s executive committee, Jeffrey G. Benz, the organization’s general counsel, told its members that any records related to the Ward matter “are to be maintained, and are not to be discarded, deleted, or otherwise affected in any way”.
Meanwhile, an executive of Xerox, a worldwide sponsor that will examine the Olympic committee’s current situation before it renews its sponsorship beyond 2004, said the management unrest “causes you to pause”.
Terry Dillman, the manager of Xerox, said, “at some point, I think sponsors are going to say, ‘if you don’t get your act together, we may not be as supportive’.”
USOC spokesman Mike Moran said Monday that the USOC had not been notified of any activity by the Justice Department, amid reports that the Justice Department plans to investigate a deal between the 2003 Pan American Games and a company with ties to Ward’s brother.
Also, an Alabama family has reportedly withdrawn a proposed $10 million donation to the USOC because of the growing ethics scandal.
The Denver Post reports that the family had planned to give the USOC a $5 million Greek garden located near Montgomery, Alabama so it could become the home of the U.S.’s first Olympic Academy to teach ethics and other Olympic ideals.
The family also planned to donate $5 million to help maintain the 22-acre area, which contains reproductions of Greek statutes and other works of art.
