Chicago 2016 chief might have broken rule
OLYMPICS | Met with IOC member in Kuwait but didn’t talk about Games
February 15, 2008
BY ANDREW HERRMANN Staff Reporter/aherrmann@suntimes.com
Chicago 2016 chairman Pat Ryan met with a member of the International Olympic Committee in Kuwait on Feb. 5, officials confirmed Thursday, possibly breaking an Olympic regulation. That rule is designed to insulate IOC voters who will decide which city will host the games.
But Ryan did not speak with Sheikh Ahmad Fahad al-Sabah — who is an IOC member and head of the Olympic Council of Asia — about Chicago’s efforts to secure the Games, Chicago 2016 spokesman Patrick Sandusky said. Sandusky said they discussed education.
Ryan, chairman of Northwestern University’s board of trustees, was in the Middle East to help promote an NU journalism school in Qatar and to conduct business related to his insurance firm, Aon Corp.
The meeting was first reported by the Japanese Kyoto news agency, which said Ryan was accompanied by Robert Fasulo, chief of international relations of the U.S. Olympic Committee. Fasulo was in Kuwait to attend a meeting with the Olympic Council of Asia and the Afghani National Olympic Committee and did not travel with Ryan or anyone from the Northwestern University delegation, Sandusky said. “They spent a very short time basically saying hello to the sheikh,” Sandusky said.
The International Olympic Committee did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.
Chicago 2016 chief might have broken rule
OLYMPICS | Met with IOC member in Kuwait but didn’t talk about Games
February 15, 2008
BY ANDREW HERRMANN Staff Reporter/aherrmann@suntimes.com
Chicago 2016 chairman Pat Ryan met with a member of the International Olympic Committee in Kuwait on Feb. 5, officials confirmed Thursday, possibly breaking an Olympic regulation. That rule is designed to insulate IOC voters who will decide which city will host the games.
But Ryan did not speak with Sheikh Ahmad Fahad al-Sabah — who is an IOC member and head of the Olympic Council of Asia — about Chicago’s efforts to secure the Games, Chicago 2016 spokesman Patrick Sandusky said. Sandusky said they discussed education.
Ryan, chairman of Northwestern University’s board of trustees, was in the Middle East to help promote an NU journalism school in Qatar and to conduct business related to his insurance firm, Aon Corp.
The meeting was first reported by the Japanese Kyoto news agency, which said Ryan was accompanied by Robert Fasulo, chief of international relations of the U.S. Olympic Committee. Fasulo was in Kuwait to attend a meeting with the Olympic Council of Asia and the Afghani National Olympic Committee and did not travel with Ryan or anyone from the Northwestern University delegation, Sandusky said. “They spent a very short time basically saying hello to the sheikh,” Sandusky said.
The International Olympic Committee did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.
http://cbs2chicago.com/politics/james.laski.book.2.652547.html
Patrick, that is funny. That is the funniest thing I have every seen on the Internet.