On the eve of Nagano Winter Olympics, Juan Antonio Samaranch bragged about the success and health of the Olympic movement. “If something isn’t broken, don’t fix it.” He said. “The Olympic movement is in very good shape.” A year later, Samaranch is faced with calls for his resignation.
Many blame him for the worst corruption scandal in Olympic history, which has prompted the expulsion or forced resignation of nine IOC members implicated in misconduct in Salt Lake City’s successful bid for the 2002 Winter Games.
The 78-years-old Spaniard was appointed IOC president in 1980. When he took over in Moscow, the Olympic movement had been hit by terrorism, was facing failure and was brought to its knees by the catastrophic boycott of the 1980 Summer Games.
A former Spanish diplomat, he used quiet diplomacy and his skills as a businessman to turn the Olympics into the most prestigious sporting event in the world. The success made him more recognizable than most world leaders, many of whom fall over each other to curry his favor and be photographed with him.
Samaranch is credited with building the games into a multibillion-dollar industry, largely based on lucrative TV rights deals and the fierce competition among cities to land them.
With success has also come criticism about the rampant commercialism of the games. Samaranch has been characterized as “dictatorial.” a despot ruling over a born undemocratic, self-appointed body that lacks the normal financial controls of a multinational corporation. Critics say the IOC is incapable of policing itself, suggesting that Samaranch’s greatest legacy to the Olympics would be his resignation.
“I am not thinking of any kind of resignation,” Samaranch said, adding there wasn’t “a single” call within the IOC for him to step down.
Contrary to his authoritarian image, he describes himself as “ the conductor” who delegates to the 11-member IOC executive board. “ I’m not the boss” he likes to say.
Samaranch is a small, shy man, visibly uncomfortable in the public spotlight and lacking the charisma associated with the most powerful man in international sports.
He’s the IOC’s first full-time executive and the first to live full-time in Lausanne. Switzerland, the IOC’s headquarters. He receives no salary and works essentially as a volunteer, although he has said the next IOC president should be paid.
The IOC pays the rent on a small hotel suite in Lausanne, which costs $220 when he’s there and $72 when he’s away.
“I am not a rich man,” Samaranch said “I am a normal man. My style of life is the same for many, many years. I have no yachts. I have no planes. I have no cars, luxury cars.” IOC executive board member Richard Pound described his lifestyle as “practically monastic”.
A low moment came earlier in the year with the publication of the book “The Lords of the Rings,” which charged the Olympic movement with being corrupt, undemocratic and consumed by commercialism and greed.
“All the people know what I did, and I am very proud of what I did,” Samaranch said, calling the book full of “lies” and “mistakes” and adding that Anglo-Saxons hate the thought of a Latin running the IOC.
“The people of Spain know very well that I was collaborating with the Franco regime, like many others,” he added. “We are very proud of what we did. We went from the Franco regime to a full democracy in peace.”
Samaranch, who at the time said he was leaning toward stepping down in 1993. said the book gave him a reason to run for another term and show he had the support of the IOC members.
正视丑闻的萨马兰奇
在举行长野冬奥会的前夕，胡安·安东尼奥·萨马兰奇曾夸耀奥林匹克的成功与健康。他说：“没被破坏的事，就不用去管它。奥林匹克运动状态良好。”一年后，要求萨马兰奇辞职的呼声此起彼伏。
许多人都因奥运史上最严重的受贿丑闻而责备他，这一丑闻使得九名奥委会委员被逐出奥运会或被迫辞职，因为他们参与了盐湖城在成功申办2002年冬奥会中的不正当竞争行为。
这位78风的西班牙人1980年被任命为奥委会主席。当他在莫斯科接任时，奥林匹克运动正遭到恐怖主义的打击，面临着一败涂地并被对1980年夏季奥运会灾难性的联合抵制所击垮。
作为一位前任的西班牙外交官，他采用了温和外交手腕和商人的技巧使奥林匹克成了世界上声望最高的运动项目。这一成就使他成为比大多数世界领导人还要受世人瞩目的人物，许多领导人都争先恐后地奉承他，与他合影。
萨马兰奇的成就在于把这项赛事变成了获利数十亿美元的事业，这主要是依靠丰厚的电视转播权交易以及为能承办比赛而产生的城市间的激烈的竞争。
伴随着成功而来的是对比赛极端的商业化的批评。萨马兰奇被描述成“独裁者，”一个统治着天生缺乏民主，缺乏跨国公司正常金融控制的自封群体的太上皇。批评家说奥委会无法自我监督，并暗示萨马兰奇留给奥林匹克的最大遗赠就是他的辞职。
“我没想过辞职，”萨马兰奇说，他还补充说道奥委会内部没有“一个人”要求他下台。
与他的****形象正相反，他把自己描述成授权于奥委会11人执委会的“引路人”。他喜欢说：“我不是老板。”
萨马兰奇身体矮小，有些腼腆，在公众的聚光灯下看上去总显得不很自在，同时也缺少作为国际体育运动中最有实权者的风采。
他是奥委会第一个专职领导人，也是第一个长驻瑞士洛桑奥委会总部的人。他没有薪水并且主要是作为志愿者来工作的，尽管他说下届奥委会主席应享受薪酬。
奥委会支付他在洛桑一幢小酒店套房的房租，他住在那里时房租为220美元，不住时72美元。
萨马兰奇说：“我并不富有，我是个普通人。我的生活方式许多年来一成不变。我没有游艇，没有飞机，既没有普通轿车也没有豪华轿车。”奥委会执委会官员里查德·庞德把他的生活方式说成是“真正的修道院生活。”
这一年早些时候由于《竞争技场上的霸主》这本书的出版出现了令人不快的时刻，该书控诉奥林匹克运动遭到了腐蚀，缺乏民主，被商业化和贪婪所吞噬。
萨马兰奇说：“大家都知道我所做的事，我为它感到非常骄傲。”他说书中充满了“谎言”和“错误”并说盎格鲁·撒克逊人厌恶拉丁人负责奥运委会的想法。
他补充说：“西班牙人非常清楚我和许多人一样过去和佛朗哥政权合作过，我们对现在所从事的事业非常骄傲。我们脱离了佛朗哥政权，和平地走向彻底的民主。”
