Bribery: Salt Lake City, 2002 Winter Games
Not what you're looking for?
The Big Business of the Olympics and Bribery
LEAD STORY-DATELINE: The Washington Post, January 15, 1999.
Salt Lake City and the state of Utah are considered synonymous with the Mormon Church and the morality that flows from religious pursuits. A recent bribery scandal relating to Salt Lake City's successful bid to host the 2002 Winter Olympics casts a cloud over the city and state.
The Salt Lake Organizing Committee (SLOC) had assigned individual members to lobby members of the International Olympics Committee (IOC) to select Salt Lake City as the 2002 Winter Olympics' site. Since November 1998, there have been allegations that the members of the SLOC lobbied by making gifts to certain influential IOC members and their families. The allegations are that the SLOC members gave scholarships, free medical care, guns and other expensive gifts valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars to visiting IOC members. IOC rules limit members to gifts with a maximum value of $150. One influential IOC member is alleged to have received free medical treatment for hepatitis and financed land investment deals for one SLOC member.
The scandal has resulted in investigations by a several agencies, including the federal Department of Justice, the International Olympics Committee, the U.S. Olympic Committee, and an ethics panel for Salt Lake Organizing Committee (SLOC). The Utah legislature had created a committee to oversee the Olympics because of the approximately $1.4 billion initial costs to be incurred by Utah and the State's obligation to pay any shortfall. That committee has entered the fray and demanded financial accounting from the SLOC. The state of Utah projected receipt of three billion dollars in revenues from hosting the games.
Additional Information
According to Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary, lobbying is "to promote (as a project) or secure the passage of (as legislation) by influencing public officials" (lobbying, n.d.).
Whether bribery should be considered unethical or illegal has been debated extensively. Many scholars and business people take the position that bribery should not be treated as unethical.
The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (15 U.S.C. sec. 78) makes it illegal for US companies to pay bribes even if they are in foreign countries. Assuming that this is a case in which the FCPA would apply, it helps to look at its definition of a bribe. The FCPA defines a bribe as "an illegal payment that is meant to influence an official to award or maintain business activity. Payments that assist the payer to obtain ministerial actions are not prohibited (Foreign Corrupt, n.d.). 147555555555555
Answer the following questions:
What is the difference between lobbying and bribery?
What argument could the SLOC members make that the payments made do not fit the definition of an illegal bribe (under the FCPA)?
What do you think is the appropriate punishment for the violation of ethical and legal principles?
Should the remedies be limited to the expulsion of the members who violated those principles, or should the entire community be held responsible?
Purchase this Solution
Solution Summary
This solution gives you a detailed discussion on Bribery: Salt Lake City, 2002 Winter Games
Solution Preview
Answer the following questions:
What is the difference between lobbying and bribery?
The difference between lobbying and bribery is that lobbying means persuading legislatures to vote for legislation that favors the lobbyists' organization. Lobbying means using legitimate means to influence decisions by officials of the government or the legislators; the lobbyist convinces politicians to vote in a particular way. On the other hand bribery is the illegitimate use of gift giving or paying money to change the behavior of the official. The bribe relates to gift giving for influencing the behavior of the recipient. The illegitimate gift is not limited to money but may take many forms including free food, favor, discount, property, or sweetheart deal. The ...
Purchase this Solution
Free BrainMass Quizzes
Academic Reading and Writing: Critical Thinking
Importance of Critical Thinking
Cost Concepts: Analyzing Costs in Managerial Accounting
This quiz gives students the opportunity to assess their knowledge of cost concepts used in managerial accounting such as opportunity costs, marginal costs, relevant costs and the benefits and relationships that derive from them.
Lean your Process
This quiz will help you understand the basic concepts of Lean.
MS Word 2010-Tricky Features
These questions are based on features of the previous word versions that were easy to figure out, but now seem more hidden to me.
Introduction to Finance
This quiz test introductory finance topics.