rack
07-28-2002, 03:28 PM
The NY Times had an interview today with Jacques Rogge, president of the IOC. Here's what he had to say about the pairs controversy.
Q: Looking back at SLC, how do you feel about the way you handled the skating controversy? Are you concerned that the decision to award a second gold medal to the Canadian pair was made too expeditiously?
A: The second medal for me is a matter of fundamental justice. We took the right decision in agreeing with the proposal of the ISU and they worked well with us. Where I failed definitely, and I admit that frankly, is that I failed in understanding that this would create a lot of controversy in Russia. And I was not proactive in addressing that. Neither at the level of Russian public opinion, which is never easy when you are in a place like SLC and there is a time difference of not less than nine hours. And I also have not been proactive at the level of the government, who faced hostile public opinion. So I should have done more on that, and it's a good lesson for the future. Everything has been talked out now. The Russians understand why we did it. But again, the lack of communication has not been good, and I take the blame for that.
Q: And you have no concern about the legal procedure being pursued through the Court of Arbitration for Sport and its eventually coming back and rebounding on the decision to award the second gold?
A: Listen. If CAS makes a decision, we will abide by it, of course. That's normal. We've done our duty... In the judging case, we had a written confession admitting tht there was manipulation...So we've acted on that.
Q: Looking back at SLC, how do you feel about the way you handled the skating controversy? Are you concerned that the decision to award a second gold medal to the Canadian pair was made too expeditiously?
A: The second medal for me is a matter of fundamental justice. We took the right decision in agreeing with the proposal of the ISU and they worked well with us. Where I failed definitely, and I admit that frankly, is that I failed in understanding that this would create a lot of controversy in Russia. And I was not proactive in addressing that. Neither at the level of Russian public opinion, which is never easy when you are in a place like SLC and there is a time difference of not less than nine hours. And I also have not been proactive at the level of the government, who faced hostile public opinion. So I should have done more on that, and it's a good lesson for the future. Everything has been talked out now. The Russians understand why we did it. But again, the lack of communication has not been good, and I take the blame for that.
Q: And you have no concern about the legal procedure being pursued through the Court of Arbitration for Sport and its eventually coming back and rebounding on the decision to award the second gold?
A: Listen. If CAS makes a decision, we will abide by it, of course. That's normal. We've done our duty... In the judging case, we had a written confession admitting tht there was manipulation...So we've acted on that.