The Philip DeFranco Show - MS 4.25 Why A Corrupt International Organization Might Be Coming To Your City

Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome to your Extra Morning Show. My name is Philip DeFranco, and today we're gonna be talking about the Olympics. Now, the Olympics, as you probably already know, is a two-week competition where the most dedicated and skilled athletes from around the world battle in sports from weightlifting to equestrian jumping and from taekwondo to the terrifying

Starting point is 00:00:15 but so, so exciting skeleton. But recently, the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo have come under scrutiny after vote-buying allegations have come out. With mounting pressure, the president of Japan's Olympic Committee announced that he would be stepping down over allegations that he paid $2 million

Starting point is 00:00:29 to influence the vote of some International Olympic Committee or IOC members. But this is also not the first time that a vote buying scandal has shaken up the IOC. In fact, many recent Olympic Games have been peppered with corruption allegations from 2002 in Salt Lake City to 2012 in London. But maybe the most interesting part about the Olympics is that the bidding process is corrupted by vote-buying,

Starting point is 00:00:47 despite there being tons of evidence that the Games consistently hurt the cities and countries that they visit. On the other hand, the IOC continues to claim economic benefits and a worthwhile legacy from hosting the Games. So, with that said, to take you through how consistently corrupt the Olympic bidding process is, and what the Olympics mean for the cities that host the competition, we had Dylan Siegel from the Rogue Rocket team dive into it.

Starting point is 00:01:07 Jubilant officials and residents celebrated at a huge outdoor rally. But in the last several weeks, charges have been leveled that Salt Lake City officials bribed Olympic officials to get the games. Those officials have admitted giving $400,000 in college scholarships to 13 beneficiaries. After multiple investigations of the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics finished, 10 IOC members either resigned or were forced out. And an independent ethics panel reportedly concluded that around $1.2 million worth of cash, scholarships, jobs, medical treatment, shopping sprees, and other expenses were gifted to IOC delegates by the Salt Lake City Olympic Committee to gain votes.

Starting point is 00:01:47 After the scandal surrounding 2002's Salt Lake City Olympics, the IOC made massive reforms, including an ethics commission which still exists, and a special IOC commission to create a new code of ethics. But fast forward nearly two decades... In Brazil, police have raided the home of the head of the country's Olympic Committee as part of an international investigation into suspected vote-buying. Carlos Nuzman, the president of the Brazilian Olympic Committee, was among several targets. Nuzman was accused of coordinating a $2 million payment to a Senegalese athlete named Lamine Diak to secure votes of IOC members from African nations. In 2017, the IOC suspended Nusman. Well, I think that the entire system is corrupt and that in order to deal with vote buying,

Starting point is 00:02:35 you have to take away the power of the members of the IOC to decide who gets to host the Olympic Games. That's Andrew Zimbalist, professor of economics at Smith College, who has written extensively about the Olympics, sports, and economics. And just like he said, the entire system appears to be corrupt. When Salt Lake City's bid was being investigated, it came out that the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan, were also tainted by gift-giving. The 2000 Sydney Olympics faced questions that two IOC members received free trips to European sports events.

Starting point is 00:03:05 In 2004, the BBC aired an undercover report where they posed as a consultancy firm looking to help bring the Olympics to London in 2012. The team eventually connected with an IOC member, who was later suspended for meeting with them. And of course, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics have faced vote-buying allegations also. But even though the bid process appears to be tainted, some believe the event still has many benefits. The Olympics are the place where thousands of athletes come together to compete for perhaps the highest prize in their sport. And they are probably the largest stage in the world

Starting point is 00:03:35 for people to triumph for themselves, their country, a movement, or an idea. At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Cathy Freeman, a member of Australia's native population, lit the Olympic fire at the opening ceremony. The decision for her to light the fire was widely viewed as an effort to create some sort of conversation about the subjugation of the native Australian population. She would even go on to win gold for the 400 meter dash that year. In 1980, the US and USSR faced off not with their nuclear arsenals, but in the ice hockey rink. The Soviets had dominated ice hockey for years, but that year, the US team triumphed 4-3 in

Starting point is 00:04:10 what is now known as the Miracle on Ice, a triumph for the US over the so-called communist menace. The IOC especially promotes an Olympic legacy as a main reason to host the Games. Sometimes that legacy means economic development, and other times it's a vague message of impacting lives. Their approach in staging the Games was to be a turning point in the way that a host city could use the Olympics to not just provide you sports facilities but to transform its urban landscape, strengthen its position on the world map and create broader social and environmental benefits.

Starting point is 00:04:41 Beijing was a vivid example of the Games' legacy in action, touching millions of people. Proponents of the Olympics have also looked to the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics as an example of financial success. Of the roughly quarter billion dollar surplus generated from those Olympics, the LA84 Foundation received 93 million dollars and has supported youth sports in LA with hundreds of millions of dollars since then. The IOC also claims numerous economic benefits for cities that have hosted the Games in recent

Starting point is 00:05:08 years. The 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia reportedly brought an estimated 4.8 to 5.3 billion dollar GDP boost and 100,000 new jobs to Australia. Even the 2016 Rio Olympics, known most for its now abandoned Olympics facilities and many problems leading up to the games, is purported to have generated an economic benefit. For example, the IOC says that Brazil welcomed 6.6 million foreign tourists in 2016,

Starting point is 00:05:33 or a 4.8% increase from the previous year. So with that in mind, perhaps you're thinking it's understandable why countries are interested in buying the votes to host the Olympics. But there is no shortage of evidence that the Olympics have hurt and cost the cities and countries they visit. And especially in the last two decades, costs have trended enormously upwards with zero

Starting point is 00:05:50 profit. And taxpayers are forced to pick up the remaining costs that swell into the billions. The 2000 Sydney Games cost about $5 billion. The 2004 Games in Greece cost about $11 billion. Some even credited the Games with pushing Greece into a financial spiral because the government ended up having to pay the debt. The 2008 Beijing Games cost around $40 billion. The 2014 Sochi Games in Russia cost the most of any Olympics at about $50 billion.

Starting point is 00:06:16 The 2018 Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea cost about $13 billion. And one stadium will reportedly have been used only four times before being demolished. But Professor Zimbalist explained that the nature of the Olympics has changed. They were supposed to be athletic events. They were never supposed to be construction events. They have turned into construction events. It's become very focused on this false notion of promoting economic development, promoting infrastructure development, and paying attention to construction problems.

Starting point is 00:06:48 On the other hand, many see the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles breaking that trend in part because it generated a budget surplus in the 1984 games. But those games are unique because they were largely privately funded. Another reason LA might work again is because it had in 1984 and again has, plenty of the infrastructure to host the games already. From hotels and the hospitality industry, to the stadiums and college campuses complete with athletic facilities.

Starting point is 00:07:13 But we spoke with Steve Ducey, an organizer for Nolympics LA, who said even though LA generated a surplus in 1984, there are plenty of reasons to reject the Olympics today. The three primary reasons are, one, the displacement and gentrification of communities that often happens when a Games comes to a city. The second is the militarization of our police force that that could actually benefit the people of Los Angeles as opposed to just the boosters of the games themselves. And we see, you know, time is one of the most valuable resources that our city officials have. And how much time are they spending trying to, you know, welcome the world for 2028 when they could be spending that time addressing the things that are problems in the city right now. Steve brought up a point about diverting resources and the potentially hidden costs

Starting point is 00:08:12 of the games in Los Angeles. But those costs are perhaps most clearly seen in other cities. In most urban environments where land is scarce and there are millions of people living in the areas, people have to be moved. For Beijing's Olympics in 2008, the journalistic reports are they moved between 1.2 and 1.4 million people out of their homes.

Starting point is 00:08:48 They just pushed them out of their homes. In Atlanta in 2016, they reportedly kicked 77,000 favelalus, people who live in shanty towns, out of their homes. And the costs range from disrupting daily life to ecological damage. But the IOC, nor LA 2028, responded to our requests for interviews. But still, with these obvious costs, why are cities still buying votes to host the games? Steve gave us his thoughts. These are international, you know, oligarchs effectively. You know what I mean?

Starting point is 00:09:11 A good portion of the IOC are royalty. And you know, these are people who tread in the same circles of elite influence. It's not too much of a stretch to say that, you know, the very same interests that benefit on the ground and that effectively end up causing harm to that benefit on the ground and that effectively end up causing harm to the cities on the ground are also part of that same, you know, culture of corruption.

Starting point is 00:09:31 So by now, at least two things are clear about the Olympics. The first is that they have large costs to many cities' residents and governments. And second, corrupt vote buying has appeared to continue despite the obvious costs in budget and in disrupted lives. But in recent years, the Olympics have become increasingly unpopular. The IOC is skating on a very thin edge now. They're at the precipice of having basically destroyed the interest around the world in hosting the Games because of what a heavy burden it's been in a financial way, in an environmental way,

Starting point is 00:10:04 and in a social way. Multiple countries have pulled out of the bid for the games in recent years, leaving the IOC with few choices. So in 2017, the IOC decided to do something they've never done before by awarding both the 2024 and 2028 games at the same time. 2024 went to Paris, and the 2028 games went to LA, since they were the only other city interested in hosting at the time. Like in the bid for 1984, cities have grown disinterested in hosting the Olympics. Los Angeles was the savior in 84

Starting point is 00:10:32 and they're hoping it'll be a savior again in 28. In the end, only time will tell whether the Olympics can regain the credibility it's lost. So it kind of seems like the Olympics might have to endure a couple more overshot Olympic budgets before it can get Los Angeles to be its positive example again. I mean, we look at Tokyo next year and the central government has reported that the games cost will likely reach $25 billion. Right, we're talking about four times the initial projected budget.

Starting point is 00:10:54 But it almost seems like a mystery that cities aren't putting up a fight to reject the games with all of these costs. But with all that said, this is the part of the video where we pass the question off to you. Does this change your perception of the Olympics and the IOC? Or no, these are the responsibility of the individual cities and countries and it's their fault if they go over. And are there also any other benefits or burdens that you've seen in your own home countries from the Olympics that we didn't discuss today? Anything and everything, let us know

Starting point is 00:11:15 in those comments down below. With that said, thank you so much for watching. I appreciate you. If you liked today's video, you wanna support the channel, be sure to hit that like button. If you want more in your future, be sure to subscribe. Also, if you're craving some more, if you wanna watch the last Philip DeFranco show

Starting point is 00:11:27 or the last deep dive, you can click or tap right there to watch those. With that said, thanks again for watching and I'll see you back right here on this channel with a brand new Philip DeFranco show later today.

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The Philip DeFranco Show - MS 4.25 Why A Corrupt International Organization Might Be Coming To Your City

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