When the members of the IOC Ethics Commission meet May 4 in Lausanne, they will enter new territory as they consider whether plagiarism is a dishonor worthy of sanction.
Looming largest is the situation of Pal Schmitt, one of the most senior IOC members and the former president of Hungary. He resigned that post earlier this year in the face of the humiliating revelation that he had copied the works of others into a post graduate thesis on the history of the modern Olympic Movement.
The thesis and degree were awarded in 1992, just as Schmitt took a seat as a member of the IOC Executive Board.
The case of Dae Sung Moon is also expected to be considered by the Ethics panel, if not at this meeting. He has admitted to falsifying his thesis, a foul that led to his resignation from South Korea'sruling Saenuri Party last month.
The gold medalist at the 2004 Olympics in taekwondo, Moon was elected to the IOC as a member of the Athletes Commission in 2008 and has four years left in his term.
The Ethics Commission, born in the aftermath of the Salt Lake City vote-buying scandal, has disciplined and expelled members for influence peddling, taking improper gifts or criminal convictions. But the panel has yet to confront a case of cheating by an IOC member.
When an athlete is caught doping at the Games – a form of cheating – the IOC does not hesitate to levy an appropriate sanction. And there is strong sentiment that serious cheaters should face lifetime bans from the Games, if such were legally permissible.
In the interest of maintaining the integrity of the field of play, the IOC has zero tolerance for cheating by the athletes. In regard to acts of cheating by its members, the IOC may have little choice but to apply similar treatment.
To overlook such transgressions, petty maybe in the eyes of some IOC members, would put at risk the credibility of the IOC in its fight against all forms of cheating in the Olympic Games. The IOC can ill-afford the way its image as a disciplinarian might suffer if it sweeps plagiarism by its members under the rug.
Members of the Ethics Commission might wonder why Schmitt did not bother to use his own experience as an IOC member and Olympian in fencing to form his graduate thesis. But laziness is not covered by the IOC Code of Ethics; dishonesty is another matter.
"They must not act in a manner likely to tarnish the reputation of the Olympic Movement," is what the IOC Code of Ethics says about the conduct of members.
Plagiarism, so easy to carry out in this digital age, has become a badge of dishonor around the world. It is seldom a criminal act, it is non-violent, usually an exercise of vanity.
The IOC may find it difficult to discipline Pal Schmitt, a beloved member who some will say has already suffered with the loss of the Hungarian presidency. Dae Sung Moon has also suffered the indignity of a political downfall, though not as major as Schmitt.
Tough as it may be to sanction either, the IOC will find it even tougher to deflect the barbs about hypocrisy that are sure to be fired, if it fails to act against members who cheat.
Written by Ed Hula