IOC Election Tensions; EB Candidates Declare

(ATR) Denis Oswald received a warning from the IOC ethics commission for an interview he gave on Swiss radio criticizing fellow presidential candidate Thomas Bach.

The Ethics Commission reminded Oswald of the rules of conduct.

According to an IOC spokeswoman, "Mr. Oswald admitted that he said more than he had intended to and expressed his regrets to the IOC."

The matter was brought to the attention of the IOC by two reporters of the ARD radio team, who provided a recording and a translation.

The election for IOC president will be held Tuesday in Buenos Aires. Besides front-runner Bach of Germany and Oswald of Switzerland, the other candidates are Sergey Bubka of Ukraine, Richard Carrion of Puerto Rico, Ser Miang Ng of Singapore, and C.K. Wu of Chinese Taipei.

According to a translation, Oswald said that IOC members "have to make their choice and some don’t like the commitment between Kuwait and Bach."

Oswald was referring to the well-known support of Bach from Sheikh Ahmad, who heads the Association of National Olympic Committees. Oswald added that pressure from German political authorities "can’t be ignored. Some think that this is not a impression of democracy. But this can have as well the opposite effect."

Asked about withdrawing his candidature, Oswald replied, "Surely not in favor of Thomas Bach. There are not the same values."

Oswald added, "He is involved in business matters. He takes advantage of his position in order to make contracts with companies he is (representing) ... That’s not the way I do imagine. I want an independent candidate who does not rely on certain alliances and who uses his position for nothing but sports."

Bach was also under fire from a German television documentary, which dredged up decades-old allegations that were picked up by British newspapers. These included an anonymous charge that Bach, who won a gold medal in Olympic fencing in 1976, cheated by using a wet glove to fool the scoring system.

A spokesman for Bach called the allegation "nonsense."

IOC member Richard Pound was not surprised by the attacks. He told German agency DPA that being the front-runner could hurt Bach. Pound was the front-runner in the 2001 campaign, losing to Jacques Rogge.

"You are looking at someone who had exactly that problem," Pound said. "The disadvantage of being persistently the front runner is that everybody comes at you. There are people who come from behind, from the sides."

Pound also suggested that the 2020 Summer Games win by Tokyo, coupled with the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, could hurt Ng and Wu.

"You might say too much Asia, too soon," Pound said.

Candidates Declare for Executive Board

John Coates of Australia is the only candidate for vice president. There is one opening since presidential candidate Ser Miang Ng will conclude his eight-year term, although there could be two openings if Thomas Bach, another candidate for president, wins election.

Anita DeFrantz of the United States, Tunku Imran of Malaysia and Richard Pound of Canada are the candidates for Executive Board. DeFrantz and Pound are former IOC vice presidents. Pound was elected to the IOC in 1978, DeFrantz in 1986 and Imran in 2006.

Written by Karen Rosen in Buenos Aires with additional reporting by Mark Bisson.

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