Henry Kissinger’s link to the IOC and corruption in the Olympic movement

Former United States Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who died this Wednesday, was an honorary member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), an organization that in 1999 included him in the ‘council of wise men’ who oversaw its reform, after corruption scandals related to Salt Lake City’s candidacy for the 2002 Games.

To deal with the biggest crisis in the history of the Olympic Movement, which was generated by buying the votes of candidates with payments and perks for IOC members, the then president, Juan Antonio Samaranch proposed the creation of a committee composed of personalities from various fields, including Kissinger.

The other members of the so-called ‘Commission 2000’ are Oscar Arias, former president of Costa Rica, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, former secretary general of the United Nations, Italian businessman Giovanni Agnelli, French politician Michel Barnier and the Spanish lawyer Luis Cazorla ..

In his interventions in said group, Kissinger promoted the renewal of sport from the political sphere, to give it a “greater global nature.”

“Today’s sport lives in a different reality, so it is important to renew its bases“said the former Secretary of State, pointing out that this renewal should be “with the presence of personalities from Governments.”

But, at the same time, one of his recommendations is the separation of sports interests from economic and also political ones, “which is important to avoid corruption and other evils of large organizations.”

Another of his proposals refers to the controversial issue of visits by IOC members to candidate cities to organize the Games: between continuing to allow them or banning them, Kissinger proposed a third way: that those members who thought that just by visiting the city they could vote fairly to tell the president of the IOC.; the Committee will organize and pay for group visits.

Finally the visits were forbidden, with ten votes against.

After that contribution to the IOC reform process, Kissinger was made an honorary life member.

Last May, on the occasion of his centenary birthday, the current Olympic president, the German Thomas Bach recalled that he met him precisely at the 2000 Commission and referred to him as “a pragmatic man”which offers sound advice on “how to make reforms that are viewed favorably in the United States and on the international stage.”

Bach indicated that he always relied on their help and that he maintains regular contact with her, even during the pandemic via video call.

Kissinger attended several editions of the Olympic Games with his children and grandchildren, the IOC recalled.