NOCs Deny 2012 Ticketing Corruption; Coe "Depressed" Over Allegations

(ATR) The IOC is now gathering evidence in the wake of a Sunday Times report that says 27 Olympic officials and ticketing agents offered to sell London Olympic tickets on the black market for as much as 10 times their face value. Under IOC rules, NOCs must sell their allocation only within their own region.

Among the NOCs singled out in the June 17 report were Bosnia, China, Greece, Israel, Lithuania, Malta and Serbia. Serbia.

The IOC could suspend individuals found in breach of IOC rules, including the loss of credentials to the London Olympics.

The IOC Ethics Commission has the job of investigating the claims made by the Sunday Times. There’s also talk of bringing aboard an independent auditor to delve more deeply into the allocation of Olympic Games tickets to the world’s 204 NOCs.

Sebastian Coe "Depressed" at Allegations

LOCOG chairman Seb Coe said Monday he was more than dismayed about the ticketing corruption allegations.

"I’m depressed that given the number of warnings that were given," he told reporters, noting that he had issued a warning at an Association of National Olympic Committees assembly 18 months ago. It was at same time when the British police were already making arrests, Britain's Home Secretary had increased ticket touting fines and LOCOG had explicitly stated it was taking a zero tolerance approach to scalping.

"In Acapulco I did make the point that ‘please think very carefully if you are intent on doing that but secondly if you have any unallocated allocation, then we have people in the UK who will take them," he said.

Coe added: "There was a great deal of anger coming from Lausanne about the nature of these allegations – they are now looking in detail at them. I think we have to be realistic though with 39 days to go before the Games it’s unlikely we’re going to get the full pathology, but I know they are absolutely intent on treating it very seriously."

Coe echoed the IOC's 2012 Coordination Commission chair Denis Oswald in calling for a ban for anyone charged with breaching the IOC's rules.

"I think it would be very difficult to sustain the argument that there would be a place for anyone in the [Olympic] movement [if found guilty]."

The double Olympic champion noted: "Fair play is not a concept rooted only in the stadium – there has to be confidence in every aspect of the delivery of the Games that there are legitimate processes."

NOC Denials

The Serbian and Bosnian NOCs responded to ATR's inquiries for comment while the Hellenic Olympic Committee released a statement following allegations of improper conduct leveled at its president, Spyros Capralos.

According to the Sunday Times, Djordje Visacki, secretary general of the Serbian NOC, was said to have offered to sell London 2012 tickets to reporters posing as wealthy investors from a wealth fund in Liechtenstein.

He said he was approached at a European Olympic Committees meeting by accredited persons and had no reason to think that they could be posing as black market ticket resellers.

He is quoted as saying: "We can definitely talk about it. We have a strong basketball team and it was expected they would qualify, so we bought a large chunk of tickets and they didn't do it. So there are tickets there."

The Serbs also reportedly agreed to "dispose" of tickets to rowing, volleyball, swimming, athletics and boxing. Milos Milenkovic, the Serbian official in charge of Olympic ticketing, is mentioned in the Sunday Times article as well as the head of Big Blue, the authorized ticket reseller (ATR) marketing the Serbian NOC allocation, who is accused of offering 1,500 tickets including for the opening and closing ceremonies for £80,000 in cash.

Visacki told ATR he had directed the undercover reporters posing as representatives of the Skylake Atlantic Company to Big Blue "for further contact in regards to the possibility of tickets exchange through the system during the Games".

On June 6, Big Blue informed the NOC that contact had been made with the Skylake Atlantic Company about the possibility of selling 2012 Games tickets to the Serbian diaspora. Visacki said the NOC replied "that no such transaction under the ticket sales agreement was allowed and that any further contact with the Skylake Atlantic Company should be ceased".

Visacki said it was cooperating with the IOC's investigation.

Asked if the Serbian NOC was launching its own investigation following the Sunday Times revelations, he said: "NOC Serbia supplied the IOC with all relevant documentation and correspondence with the official ATR, and we will act in compliance with the Ticket Sales Agreement once we receive relevant information regarding IOC investigation."

Bosnia Reacts

The newspaper claimed Said Fazlagic, general secretary of the Bosnian Olympic Committee, had seemed happy to accept that the country’s ticket allocation could be sold elsewhere, quoting him saying: "You have to be careful at the beginning, but I don’t see why you shouldn’t sell somewhere else."

"No, I didn't say that, definitely," Fazlagic told ATR.

He said he was approached by the Sunday Times undercover reporters posing as Middle Eastern ticket touts on the sidelines of the European Olympic Committees meeting in Budapest in April. Fazlagic said he became suspicious of their motives when he didn't see them on a list of authorized ticket sellers.

"Three or four times I mentioned that everything has to be legal and under IOC rules," he added.

"I am 99.9 percent sure everything [London 2012 tickets] has been sold in the correct way. From our side, we did everything we were supposed to do exactly under the rules. They were looking for trouble, definitely, to sell their newspapers."

Fazlagic was asked if he wanted to come to an agreement to sell tickets for the Sochi 2014 Winter Games but told the reporters that they should send a concrete proposal for the consideration of the NOC's executive board. He said the Bosnian NOC was "going to go with the same [authorized ticketing] agency for Sochi 2014".

HOC Decries "Immoral" Times Report

The Hellenic Olympic Committee says the events described in the Sunday Times report could not have happened.

A statement posted on the HOC website says it contracted London ticket sales to the Marcus Evans company for 300,000 Euros.

"The whole process was totally transparent and in accordance with the laws of the Greek State. Therefore, there can be no issue on creating a ‘black market’ by the HOC which did not buy any tickets, whatsoever."

"The whole discussion concerned the Winter Olympic Games ‘Sochi 2014’" the statement continued.

"The video recording was made with a hidden camera, in a misleading way too, while the publishing of the statements of the HOC President, Mr. Spyros Capralos was fragmentary and a patchwork of answers, made in a way that served the authors of the article."

On Sunday, Capralos told ATR he was declining to comment following advice of his lawyers.

"Even in the published statements of the HOC President – which we would like to stress once more that they are a product of a patchwork – as every reader can notice, there is nothing reproachable. On the contrary, the way of operating and the allocation of the tickets of the Olympic Games is explained.

"Regarding the other issue mentioned in the article, that extra tickets were requested from the President of the Organizing Committee of the ‘London 2012’ Olympic Games, Lord Sebastian Coe, the direct and flat contradiction of the issue by the Organizing Committee of the "London 2012" Olympic Games, provides a clear answer."

The HOC statement said it would protect itself from similar "immoral attacks" in the future.

Reported by Mark Bisson and Christian Radnedge

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