[mobglob-discuss] Heiberg denies conflict of interest

[Bella]

Hmmmmm ... think we got under some IOC skin ?




Sunday, June 29, 2003
 
IOC official denies conflict of interest with Vancouver bid 
 
PRAGUE (AP) - Three days before the vote on the 2010 Winter Olympics host
city, a senior IOC member was dragged into a controversy Sunday over his
alleged business ties with favourite Vancouver. 
Norway's Gerhard Heiberg, head of the IOC panel which evaluated the three
2010 bid candidates, denied he had any conflict of interest and claimed he
was the target of a smear campaign. 

The IOC ethics commission said it believed Heiberg had done nothing wrong.


Heiberg, who is also chairman of the IOC's marketing commission, compiled
a report which gave Vancouver the best overall review in a race that also
includes Salzburg, Austria, and Pyeongchang, South Korea. 

At issue Sunday was Heiberg's role with a Norwegian company, Aker
Kvaerner, an oil and gas services firm. 

A Vancouver-based group opposed to the Olympics alleges that Heiberg, who
serves on one of the company's committees, has a conflict of interest
because of Kvaerner's business dealings in British Columbia. 

"Gerhard Heiberg is not the Mr. Clean that he likes to present to the
outside," the opposition group said in a statement. "He holds an important
position at Aker Kvaerner. The economic interconnections and the conflicts
of interests are a fact." 

The allegations quickly made the rounds in the corridors and lobbies of
the IOC hotel on the first day of weeklong meetings in Prague. 
 
Heiberg denied any wrongdoing. 

"They are saying that one way or the other I have a connection with a
Norwegian company involved in British Columbia," he said in an interview.
"My connection is almost zero. I make almost no money." 

Heiberg said he serves in an unpaid role on the company's election
committee, which meets once a year. 

"This company does more business in Korea than in British Columbia, and
also does business in Austria," he said. 

Heiberg said the allegations were part of an attempt to undermine his
candidacy for the IOC vice-presidency. He is competing against South
Korea's Kim Un-yong, with the election to be held Friday. 

"This is being used against me, saying that I cannot be trusted," he said.
"This is crazy. I don't have any connection. They said I should have told
the ethics commission. Why should I? have nothing to tell." 

"There will be more to come against me, I'm sure," he said. "It started
out as a Vancouver thing. People are now using it against me as a VP
candidate." 

The IOC ethics commission's top official, Paquerette Girard Zappelli,
spoke with Heiberg and said she believed he had no case to answer. 

"It could not be any conflict of interest," she said in an interview. "To
have any conflict you have to have real decision making power. I don't
think it's the case. We have no official case or claim." 

© The Canadian Press, 2003 

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