Bids

Faced with suspicions of corruption, Samsung denies outright

— Published on April 11, 2018

Snow White. Suspected of corruption in the awarding of the 2018 Winter Games to the Korean city of PyeongChang, the Samsung group rejected the accusations outright on Tuesday April 10 and proclaimed its innocence. The opposite would have been a huge surprise.

The South Korean electronics giant, an IOC partner in the TOP program, reacted to the television channel's revelations SBS by a simple press release. “ Samsung has never carried out any illegal lobbying activities in order to obtain the victory of Pyoengchang., assures the document.

OK. But the facts are disturbing. The group SBS revealed on Tuesday April 10 that it had obtained copies of 137 emails, suggesting a real strategy of buying votes in the race for the Winter Games in 2018. This abundant digital correspondence would involve 27 active members of the IOC, or more than a quarter of the workforce of the institution. Their names were not specified, but 12 of them are said to be African.

In one of these emails, marked "strictly confidential", the sulphurous Papa Massata Diack, son of the former president of the IAAF, requests the payment of 12 million dollars, notably in the form of a contract with benefit of the Diamond League, the first circuit of IAAF meetings, then directed by his father.

As a bonus, Papa Massata Diack is demanding $1,5 million for Lamine Diack's political campaign, and an identical sum for lobbying operations in favor of Pyeongchang. The email dates back to 2010, in the middle of the campaign for the attribution of the 2018 Winter Games.

Obviously very embarrassed by a case involving one of its main partners, the IOC reacted with caution. The organization indicates, through one of its spokespersons, that the information concerning Lamine Diack “will be added to his file opened by the ethics commission. » She recalls that the Senegalese leader lost his status as honorary member of the IOC almost 3 years ago. She emphasizes being a civil party in the investigation opened by the French justice system against her.

Not a word, however, on the Samsung file.