'02 Salt Lake games may be in jeopardy

Marc Hodler, the IOC's senior member, said it was possible the games could be moved elsewhere or canceled if Salt Lake can't raise enough money because of eroding public and corporate support.

Hodler also said two Salt Lake officials who resigned last week apparently tried to cover up cash payments made to IOC members during the bid, although he again described the Utah city as a victim of a corrupt system.

The 80-year-old Swiss, a member of the International Olympic Committee executive board and head of the IOC's oversight panel for the 2002 Games, spoke a month after alleging that Salt Lake's efforts to secure the 2002 Games amounted to bribery and cited widespread corruption in other campaigns for host cities, touching off the biggest scandal in Olympic history.

Exciting Winter Olympics events, such as the luge, thrilled people in Nagano, Japan last year. But the recent bribery scandal surrounding the 2002 games in Salt Lake City have caused speculation on whether the games will be moved from

Another IOC official, vice president Anita DeFrantz of the United States, said she expected as many as 12 committee members to be ousted in the investigation.

She also said the games would stay in Salt Lake City because there was not enough time to find another site.

Hodler raised doubts about the ability of Salt Lake organizers to raise the remaining $350 million needed to meet their $1.45 billion budget if the scandal makes sponsors jittery.

IOC leaders have said Salt Lake City won't be stripped of the games, and Hodler acknowledged it would be difficult to move to another venue only three years out.

But he said, "Theoretically, yes" it's possible.

Hodler noted there was a precedent. Denver relinquished the 1976 Winter Olympics after Colorado residents voted in 1972 against financing the event. The games were moved to Innsbruck, Austria.

Hodler said Lillehammer, Norway, site of the 1994 Winter Games, would be an alternative this time, along with 1998 host city Nagano, Japan.

Calgary, which staged the 1988 Winter Games, has offered to step in if Salt Lake could not serve as host, "but they don't have a downhill course any more," Hodler said.

But Hodler said the worst scenario would be the cancellation of the 2002 Games.

the city.

AP PHOTO

01-12-99