Friday, February 15, 2002

IOC can overrule ISU

By STEVE SIMMONS -- Toronto Sun
 SALT LAKE CITY -- The International Olympic Committee can bypass the International Skating Union and reward gold medals to Jamie Sale and David Pelletier if it finds that the Olympic Judging Oath has been violated.

 The Olympic Oath, spoken by a representative judge at the opening ceremony, preaches fairness, competence and honesty.

 If allegations are true that the pairs figure skating votes were tainted, then the IOC can overstep the ISU in rewarding Sale and Pelletier with gold medals.

 "Right now, we are awaiting the official outcome from the ISU," said Francois Carrard, the director general of the IOC. "We are letting them conduct their procedure. Again, we have to wait for the facts.

 "Until we know the facts, we cannot proceed."

 There has been some speculation that if the ISU drags its feet on the investigation, the IOC will step in and invoke the Olympic Oath as a reason to alter the results of the figure skating competition. The Oath, in this case, is the IOC's trump card.

 While the ISU has officially scheduled its council meeting for Monday to deal with the Canadian protest of the pairs scoring, two sources believed that the meeting, in fact, was held yesterday.

 "If we find out that two judges colluded, then a couple of things could happen," said Paul Henderson, an IOC member from Canada. "They could invoke a violation of the judge's oath or they could let the ISU basically decide to change the result.

 "Whatever happens, it should happen quickly."

2002 Games News Coverage