(ATR) An ex-IOC member exploits the one year anniversary of the death of Juan Antonio Samaranch to raise questions about current IOC President Jacques Rogge.
Translated copies of the commentary, which appeared first on the Korean website www.newsis.com, have been mailed around the world from the Seoul office of Un Yong Kim. The one year anniversary of Samaranch’s death was April 21.
Kim resigned as an IOC member in 2005 ahead of a vote on whether he should be expelled for his conviction and jail sentence on charges he misused funds while president of the Korean Olympic Committee and the World Taekwondo Federation.
Now 80, Kim became an IOC member in 1986, serving terms as a member of the Executive Board and as a vice president. As president of the General Association of International Sports Federations, he launched the Sport Accord convention that is now an annual fixture.
Since leaving the IOC, Kim has issued statements from time to time to offer his views on the Olympics and the leadership of the taekwondo federation.
"His achievement was great, writes Kim about Samaranch, followed in the next sentence with a back-handed comment about Rogge.
"We know Jacque [sic] Rogge in his own way is also trying hard but it looks difficult to compare with Samaranch," says Kim.
Kim saysthat Samaranch "had to work hard to organize" the 1988 Games in Seoul, while "Rogge never worked with Seoul people for success of Seoul Olympics".
Kim goes on to suggest Rogge has mishandled issues involving Korea, such as the speedskating medals controversy at the 2002 Winter Games that led to protests in Korea against the IOC.
The convoluted comparison of how Samaranch and Rogge stack-up reaches a near comical conclusion as Kim implies that the honorary degree awarded to Rogge by Kyunghee University "at the outskirt of Seoul" is inferior to the honorifics bestowed on Samaranch by Seoul National University.
And then in a closing non-sequitor, Kim offers enigmatic advice to the 2018 bid from PyeongChang.
"They should remember as they bid for Pyeongchang Winter Olympics again that Rogge is not Samaranch. They have to deal with different kinds of people as some IOC insiders say," writes the Kim.
He signs the work "Un Yong Kim IOC Vice President (R)". Whether Kim regards the (R) designation as signifying "resigned" or "retired" is not made clear.
To see Kim’s commentary, click here.
Written by Ed Hula.
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