Nagano orders inquiry

TOKYO, Jan 26 (AFP): The Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) Monday ordered an inquiry into Nagano's bid for the 1998 Winter Games as Sydney expressed relief that its preparations for the 2000 Games were left intact by an IOC corruption inquiry.

After the International Olympic Committee recommended the expulsion of six executive members, JOC secretary general Yushiro Yagi said he would head an inquiry into Nagano that would start as soon as possible, Kyodo News Service reported.

"First of all, I'd like to know if the reports about the questionable acts by the Nagano bidding committee are true or not priority will be given to confirming such hard facts", Yagi said.

The investigation will look into the winning-and-dining, favours and gifts lavished on Olympic officials as Nagano battled for the Games.

Earlier, Nagano Mayor Tasuku Tsukada told a press conference the bid had stayed. "As I review the matter now, I think there was some excess," he said.

"As I review the mater now, I think there was some excess," said Tsukuda.

Four of the six IOC members told to resign for expulsion at an IOC meeting at the weekend had visited Nagano ahead of the 1991 vote to give the Games to the Japanese city.

"We acted honorably in keeping with norms of international goodwill," Tsukuda added.

Some 62 of the then 94 IOC members travelled first-class, some accompanied by wives, to the Japanese Alps region in the run-up to the 1991 vote.

The visitors were lodged in top hotels in Nagano, Tokyo and Kyodo, entertained with geisha girls and flown in helicopters, according to media reports. The bid committee footed the bill estimated at some two million yen (17,700 dollars) per head.

In Australia, Sydney Games organisers acknowledge contributing 1.2 million dollars in sports funding to 11 African nations before the 1993 vote for the 2000 Games and offering 70,000 dollars in "inducements" to two delegates the day before Sydney was chosen.

Olympics minister Michael Knight told reporters that payments to African IOC members were within the rules and limits applied at the time.

"They were not the rules that Australia chose, but they were the rules at the time, they're the rules that everyone played the game under," he said. "I'm pretty happy that the rules have changed."

He said Sydney is not being investigated by the IOC, but is participating in a review of the activities of IOC members.

Australia's senior IOC member Kevan Gosper said from Lausanne his main priority had been to save the Sydney Games. "I'm extremely pleased because there was considerable amount of uncertainty in the air these last days and we've taken that uncertainty away.

"I won't argue that they were in great jeopardy but you can never leave anything to chance and we got that endorsement and that's very good news."

Two top IOC officials are to visit Sydney to iron out remain concerns, IOC officials said, and the Sydney organising committee has admitted that the sleaze allegations had damaged its campaign to raise another 230 million dollars for the 2000 Games budget.

The decision to expel the six members in March if they refuse to resign was taken by the IOC executive board after it reviewed a report implicating 13 IOC members in the scandal over the Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Games. Three members have already resigned.