Olympics: Carruth calls for Hickey's head
Wednesday, 15 November 2000Michael Carruth has added another twist to the on-going saga regarding the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) and its controversial electoral policies. Carruth, the former Olympic gold medallist, highlighted his frustration with the council and its President, Pat Hickey, in an interview with The Irish Examiner.
Carruth said Mr Hickey, and all other members of the OCI should stand down following a series of revelations outlined in today's edition of the newspaper. Among the revelations are that half of the OCI executive no longer represent the sports they were elected to represent; the voting system favours the sitting executive, and only three positions have changed in eight years.
The main focus of controversy centres on the voting procedures to re-elect the executive, which occurs every four years, usually after the summer games. The election calls all 26 summer and winter sports in Ireland together to create the national executive committee, which many believe is heavily loaded in favour of those already sitting. Each of the 26 sports has a vote, but the executive retains 10 votes, which critics argue is tantamount to giving the executive the power to re-elect itself.
Chris Wall, secretary of the Athletics Association of Ireland (AAI), agreed with Carruth's condemnation of the situation, calling it undemocratic. When pressed on his view, OCI president Hickey insisted, "That's politics."
Filed by Shane Murray
