Hodler Olympics Legacy: Sport & Scandal

(ATR) Swiss IOC member Marc Hodler will be remembered for his nearly 50-year leadership of the International Ski Federation and his role in unearthing the vote-buying scandal of the Salt Lake City Olympics.

Hodler died Wednesday at a hospital in his hometown of Bern after suffering a stroke three days ago. His 88th birthday would have been October 28.

His career in sport administration dates back to 1951 when he first became president of the FIS, the International Ski Federation. He retired from the post after 47 years, a record among international federations.

During his tenure at FIS he saw the sport of skiing change from an amateur pursuit to a highly-organized profession. Hodler at one time opposed payment for skiers, but eventually relented.

He headed the IOC Coordination Commission for the Winter Olympics in 1992, 1994, 1998 and 2002 and was elected to four terms on the IOC Executive Board.

It was in his role as chairman of the Salt Lake City commission that he learned of under-the-table payments and other remuneration that had been supplied to IOC members by the Salt Lake City bid and organizing committee.

"He was the first person we went to because he was chairman of the coordination commission," says Dave Johnson, a vice president at the Salt Lake City Organizing Committee in late 1998.

"Little did we know what would happen," says Johnson about the storm that Hodler would soon be spawning.

At a December 12, 1998, meeting of the IOC Executive Board in Lausanne, Hodler went public with what he knew, holding court with the media throughout the day in the lobby of IOC headquarters. Up to this point, word of the scandal had only been sketchy, without any indication of how widespread it might be.

Sitting next to a tall Christmas tree in the IOC lobby, Hodler described corrupt practices being carried out to buy the votes of IOC members. He said agents were at work brokering those votes in million-dollar deals. He even took jabs at the Italians who had won the Alpine ski world championships, accusing them of buying FIS votes with automobiles.

He commandeered the podium in Lausanne, just as IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch came into the room with a group of corporate executives ready to announce the latest worldwide sponsor for the Games. It would be the last big deal the IOC would sign for nearly two years.

The suspicions about vote-buying were not new, but Hodler's uncharacteristic outburst in Lausanne was the first time an IOC member had dared to come forward with first-hand knowledge of how the game was being played.

Later that day, Hodler was "muzzled", as he put it. He was ordered to keep silent by the IOC president who formed an ad hoc commission to investigate the charges, the precursor to the current Ethics Commission.

The IOC entered some dark days in the following months, with public revelations of IOC venality and the expulsion of six members and resignations for four others.

Inquiries into more than a dozen other members persisted for months to come. Some received reprimands and warnings.

Some say the 2006 Winter Games in Turin are a result of Hodler's outburst.

Sion, Switzerland, was considered the front-runner in the race, but was handily beaten by Turin in the 1999 election. The vote was seen in part as a reflection of the unhappiness of members over the way Hodler had dragged the organization into ignominy.

Reforms adopted by the IOC in the aftermath of the scandal have now leveled the playing field in the way cities can campaign for the Olympics, such as banning IOC member visits. But that ban is still unpopular with some members who regarded the bid-paid trips as an IOC perk.

While not publicly scorned, Hodler seemed to be cut adrift by the IOC in the years after the scandal, a solitary figure at IOC Sessions in recent years.

"The IOC expresses its sadness at the passing of a member who dedicated so much to the Olympic movement," is the statement of IOC President Jacques Rogge.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with Mr. Hodler's family," said Rogge, who is on a trip to Japan. The statement did not mention Hodler's role in exposing the IOC scandal.

Johnson, who lost his job at SLOC and went on trial for federal charges as a result of the scandal, still considers Hodler a friend, despite the trouble Hodler caused with his revelations.

"He had nothing but good intentions, but he hurt a lot of innocent people," says Johnson. Charges against Johnson and his boss Tom Welch were dismissed for lack of evidence.

As chairman of the coordination commission for Nagano, Hodler became a controversial figure in Japan in the year before the 1998 Games over the length of the downhill. Hodler insisted on a FIS-mandated length, while Nagano organizers said the only way to make the course longer would require intrusion into the habitat of a protected bird.

Hodler, a lawyer by profession, was the second-most senior member of the IOC. He was elected in 1963, the same year as Joao Havelange of Brazil, who holds the first position. Havelange and Mohamed Mzali are the last two remaining members eligible to serve on the IOC for life. With Hodler's death, IOC membership now drops to 113.

Hodler ran for the IOC presidency in 1980, but was defeated by Juan Antonio Samaranch.

Hodler was also a skilled bridge player and served as president of the Swiss Bridge Federation for 46 years.

He is survived by his wife and two sons.