Utente:Samuele2002/Sandbox/13
Controversy
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Il processo per l' assegnazione delle onorificenze alle città ospitanti è stato oggetto di un intenso esame dopo che Salt Lake City aveva ottenuto il diritto di ospitare i Giochi del 2002.
The process for awarding host city honours came under intense scrutiny after Salt Lake City had been awarded the right to host the 2002 Games.[1]
Soon after the host city had been announced it was discovered that the organisers had engaged in an elaborate bribery scheme to curry favour with IOC officials.[1]
Gifts and other financial considerations were given to those who would evaluate and vote on Salt Lake City's bid. These gifts included medical treatment for relatives, a college scholarship for one member's son and a land deal in Utah. Even IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch received two rifles valued at $2,000. Samaranch defended the gift as inconsequential since, as president, he was a non-voting member.[2]
The subsequent investigation uncovered inconsistencies in the bids for every Games (both summer and winter) since 1988.[3] For example, the gifts received by IOC members from the Japanese Organising Committee for Nagano's bid for the 1998 Winter Olympics were described by the investigation committee as "astronomical".[4]
Although nothing strictly illegal had been done, the IOC feared that corporate sponsors would lose faith in the integrity of the process and that the Olympic brand would be tarnished to such an extent that advertisers would begin to pull their support.[5]
The investigation resulted in the expulsion of 10 IOC members and the sanctioning of another 10. New terms and age limits were established for IOC membership, and 15 former Olympic athletes were added to the committee. Stricter rules for future bids were imposed, with ceilings imposed on the value of gifts IOC members could accept from bid cities.[6][7][8]
Host city legacy
[modifica | modifica wikitesto]According to the IOC, the host city is responsible for, "...establishing functions and services for all aspects of the Games, such as sports planning, venues, finance, technology, accommodation, catering, media services etc., as well as operations during the Games."[9]
Due to the cost of hosting an Olympic Games, most host cities never realise a profit on their investment.[10]
For example, the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, cost $12.5 billion. By comparison the Torino Games of 2006 cost $3.6 billion to host.[11]
The organisers claimed that the cost of extending the bullet train service from Tokyo to Nagano was responsible for the large price tag.[11] The organising committee hoped that the exposure of the Olympic Games, and the expedited access to Nagano from Tokyo, would be a boom to the local economy for years afterward. Nagano's economy did experience a two-year post-Olympic spurt, but the long-term effects have not materialised as planned.[11]
The possibility of heavy debt, coupled with unused sports venues and infrastructure that saddle the local community with upkeep costs and no practical post-Olympic value, is a deterrent to prospective host cities.[12]
To mitigate these concerns the IOC has enacted several initiatives. First it has agreed to fund part of the host city's budget for staging the Games.[13] Secondly, the IOC limits the qualifying host countries to those that have the resources and infrastructure to successfully host an Olympic Games without negatively impacting the region or nation. This eliminates a large portion of the developing world.[14] Finally, cities bidding to host the Games are required to add a "legacy plan" to their proposal. This requires prospective host cities and the IOC, to plan with a view to the long-term economic and environmental impact that hosting the Olympics will have on the region.[15]
Doping
[modifica | modifica wikitesto]In 1967 the IOC began enacting drug testing protocols. They started by randomly testing athletes at the 1968 Winter Olympics.[16] The first Winter Games athlete to test positive for a banned substance was Alois Schloder, a West German hockey player,[17] but his team was still allowed to compete.[18] During the 1970s testing outside of competition was escalated because it was found to deter athletes from using performance-enhancing drugs.[19] The problem with testing during this time was a lack of standardisation of the test procedures, which undermined the credibility of the tests. It was not until the late 1980s that international sporting federations began to coordinate efforts to standardise the drug-testing protocols.[20] The IOC took the lead in the fight against steroids when it established the independent World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in November 1999.[21][22]
The 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin became notable for a scandal involving the emerging trend of blood doping, the use of blood transfusions or synthetic hormones such as Erythropoietin (EPO) to improve oxygen flow and thus reduce fatigue.[23] The Italian police conducted a raid on the Austrian cross-country ski team's residence during the Games where they seized blood-doping specimens and equipment.[24] This event followed the pre-Olympics suspension of 12 cross-country skiers who tested positive for unusually high levels of haemoglobin, which is evidence of blood doping.[23]
The 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi's Russian Doping Scandal has resulted in the International Olympic Committee to begin disciplinary proceedings against 28 (later increased to 46) Russian athletes who competed at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, acting on evidence that their urine samples were tampered with.[25][26][27][28][29]
- ^ a b Olympics corruption probe ordered, BBC News, 22 December 1998. URL consultato il 24 August 2010.
- ^ Cashmore (2005), p. 444
- ^ Cashmore (2005), p. 445
- ^ Cashmore (2003), p. 307
- ^ Payne (2006), p. 232
- ^ Miller, Lawrence and McCay (2001), p. 25
- ^ Alan Abrahamson, Judge Drops Olympic Bid Case, in Los Angeles Times, 6 December 2003. URL consultato il 30 January 2009.
- ^ Samaranch reflects on bid scandal with regret, in Deseret News, WinterSports2002.com. URL consultato il 22 March 2002.
- ^ Roles and Responsibilities during the Olympic Games (PDF), su olympic.org, International Olympic Committee, January 2010, 4–5. URL consultato il 24 August 2010.
- ^ Howard Berkes, Olympic Caveat:Host cities risk debt, scandal, National Public Radio, 1º October 2009. URL consultato il 23 August 2010.
- ^ a b c Bob Payne, The Olympic Effect, MSNBC.com, 6 August 2008. URL consultato il 23 August 2010.
- ^ Mark Koba, The money pit that is hosting Olympic Games, su sports.yahoo.com, CNBC.com, 11 February 2010. URL consultato il 24 August 2010 (archiviato dall'url originale il 4 December 2010).
- ^ Preuss (2004), p. 277
- ^ Preuss (2004), p. 284
- ^ Jacques Rogge, Jacques Rogge: Vancouver's Winter Olympic legacy can last for 60 years, in The Daily Telegraph, Telegraph.co.uk, 12 February 2010. URL consultato il 23 August 2010.
- ^ Yesalis (2000), p. 57
- ^ The Official Report of XIth Winter Olympic Games, Sapporo 1972 (PDF), The Organising Committee for the Sapporo Olympic Winter Games, 1973, p. 386. URL consultato il 22 March 2009.
- ^ Thomas M. Hunt, Sports, Drugs, and the Cold War (PDF), vol. 16, n. 1, International Centre for Olympic Studies, 2007. URL consultato il 23 March 2009.
- ^ Mottram (2003), p. 313
- ^ Mottram (2003), p. 310
- ^ Yesalis (2000), p. 366
- ^ A Brief history of anti-doping, su wada-ama.org, World Anti-Doping Agency. URL consultato il 25 March 2009.
- ^ a b Juliet Macur, Looking for Doping Evidence, Italian Police Raid Austrians, in New York Times, NYTimes.com, 19 February 2006. URL consultato il 25 March 2009.
- ^ IOC to hold first hearings on doping during 2006 Winter Olympics, in USA Today, Gannett Co., 9 February 2007. URL consultato il 25 March 2009.
- ^ I.O.C. Starts Proceedings Against 28 Russian Athletes Over Sochi Doping, in NYTime.com, NYTimes.com, 23 December 2016. URL consultato il 27 December 2016.
- ^ Rebecca R. Ruiz, Russian Insider Says State-Run Doping Fueled Olympic Gold, in The New York Times, 12 May 2016.
- ^ Mystery in Sochi Doping Case Lies With Tamper-Proof Bottle, in The New York Times, 13 May 2016. URL consultato il 14 May 2016.
- ^ Owen Gibson, New doping report will influence decision on Russia’s place at Olympics, in The Guardian, 1º June 2016.
- ^ Russian athletics: IAAF upholds ban before Rio Olympics, su theguardian.com. URL consultato il 21 July 2016.