A leading sports official has spoken of an endemic culture of bribery and corruption in the Olympic movement, claiming he was involved in paying bribes to committee members to secure taekwondo’s place at the Games as well as handing out $500,000 in cash to rig an election.
In an interview with The Times, the official has detailed a culture in which payments were made in exchange for gold medals in World Championship and Olympic boxing. He says bribes of as much as $1 million were demanded to guarantee Olympic boxing gold at Athens 2004, and that Azerbaijan paid $10 million in the form of a loan after being offered a gold medal at London 2012. He also has photographic evidence of cash he was offered to fix World Championship bouts.
American policy makers, law enforcement, and intelligence agencies often rely on U.S.-based think tanks for research and policy recommendations. While many institutions produce academic products with intellectual sovereignty and moral integrity, too many receive undisclosed foreign funding from countries hostile to the United States and our interests.
