IOC DRUG SUMMIT FACES FIGHT FOR INDEPENDENTS

The IOC, scrambling to keep its drug summit from being overshadowed by the
Olympic corruption scandals, ran into disputes over key issues in the
anti-doping fight yesterday in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Differences emerged over the structure of a proposed international drug
agency, the definition of doping and the severity of sanctions.

The International Olympic Committee executive board, meanwhile, met under
tight secrecy to discuss the twin crises of corruption and drugs.

In action directly linked to the bribery scandal, the board started the
IOC's first ethics commission and code of conduct. Director general
Francois Carrard said the ethics panel would police "the general conduct of
IOC members and their business practices." He said the five-member panel
would include three officials from outside the IOC.

The creation of an Olympic Movement Anti-Doping Agency is a centerpiece of
the 2-day conference. The agency would be responsible for instituting
random, out-of-competition drug tests.

IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch said Sunday he would oversee the
agency as president or chairman. And he proposed that the IOC medical
commission chairman, Prince Alexandre de Merode, should run the agency on a
day-to-day basis.

But there were calls for the drug agency to be fully independent, including
one from White House drug czar Barry McCaffrey, part of the U.S. delegation
to the conference.

Meanwhile, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that Atlanta's Olympic
bid team spent $7.8 million lobbying the IOC in the final two years of a
whirlwind campaign to win the 1996 Summer Games. No one has suggested the
millions spent by the Atlanta bid team circling the globe to secure votes
and hosting IOC members in high style was excessive or improper.