Exclusive from the BBC:
Exclusive from the BBC:
Sounds like Fake News.
A spokeswoman for the IAAF said she was unaware of any FBI and IRS probes.
Interesting.
What would be the crime?
An organization, in principle, is not required to solicit bids for such things are they? They do it to get the best deal (or the most, uh, "perks") for the organization.
If I, as an empowered head of some group awarded our annual meeting to City X unilaterally, thats not a crime.
I'm hard pressed to imagine what in that description could constitute a federal crime that the FBI could investigate. Lananna lobbied for the bid - not a federal crime. Coe had a conflict of interest and maybe he lobbied despite his denials - still not a federal crime.
where's the beef? wrote:
I'm hard pressed to imagine what in that description could constitute a federal crime that the FBI could investigate. Lananna lobbied for the bid - not a federal crime. Coe had a conflict of interest and maybe he lobbied despite his denials - still not a federal crime.
If a Not For Profit organization is caught funneling money to bribe foreign officials that is something sure to catch the attention of the IRS and FBI. Accounting for non-profits is pretty strict.
Not for profit is the beef wrote:If a Not For Profit organization is caught funneling money to bribe foreign officials that is something sure to catch the attention of the IRS and FBI. Accounting for non-profits is pretty strict.
If bribes were paid, then there was probably a federal crime.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Corrupt_Practices_ActBut the story says nothing about bribes, only lobbying.
Not for profit is the beef wrote:
If a Not For Profit organization is caught funneling money to bribe foreign officials that is something sure to catch the attention of the IRS and FBI. Accounting for non-profits is pretty strict.
The best legal analogy is probably the soccer scandal. None of the soccer guys were government officials -- FIFA is a private organization. Since federal bribery statutes, such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, only cover payments government officials, those laws didn't apply. Instead, the feds treated FIFA like the mob, and went after them for violating racketeering and money laundering statutes.
Like FIFA, the IAAF is a private organization, so payments to its officers wouldn't count as bribes. Of course, as you say, the tax code has strict rules about what non-profits can do with their money, and how they report what they do. Under-the-table payments to the IAAF, probably violates those rules. Ditto for not reporting it.
Another possibility is that Oregon law prohibits bribes to private parties, or imposes other requirements on non-profits. If the Eugene folks broke any of those laws, they are open to federal anti-mob laws since their criminal enterprise was international.
dfljkd wrote:
If I, as an empowered head of some group awarded our annual meeting to City X unilaterally, thats not a crime.
Your general point is correct. But if you announce a bidding process and then take payments under the table, that might be fraud. Many states also have laws against commercial bribery; depending on how those are written, they might also apply.
At this point, it might just be a matter the FBI is looking into.
Let's wait until the FBI makes an official statement.
I believe that it is possible that Papa Massata Diack is cooperating with investigations into bribery. I do not know if that includes U.S. officials or not.
Loretta L wrote:
At this point, it might just be a matter the FBI is looking into.
Let's wait until the FBI makes an official statement.
What's the fun in that??? We could have them charged, convicted and sentenced before the FBI finds anything.
Loretta L wrote:
At this point, it might just be a matter the FBI is looking into.
Let's wait until the FBI makes an official statement.
Quoting the article:
"The controversial decision to award the 2021 World Athletics Championships to Eugene, Oregon is being investigated by the FBI and the Criminal Division of America's Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the BBC has learned."
Yes, an investigation "looks into" things as part of the process. Would you want both the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation Division "looking into" your affairs?
Nice soft touch, your group is getting better at damage control. Tell them I said to give you a raise.
So what?
France was also investigating Eugene 2021 at one point.
https://www.rt.com/sport/325534-france-investigating-eugene-2021/
Memory hole me wrote:
So what?
France was also investigating Eugene 2021 at one point.
https://www.rt.com/sport/325534-france-investigating-eugene-2021/
Say what? Who cares about the French. In the US the IRS and FBI are to feared much more.
nobody bids on oly sports champs but insignificant barn yard towns
If Qatar paid $6mil to get World's I'd assume Nike knew the going rate and took care of it. As soon as it was awarded my first thought was someone got paid off handsomely. A little while later the Qatar news came out and it all but assured me that Nike had handed over millions for Eugene's bid. Hope they all go down and serve some jail time.
Most of the "sport" is shady.
While they're looking into Eugene and the Portland Marathon (http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2017/06/doj_issues_order_demanding_rec.html) the FBI and DOJ should revisit this too
Sounds like they're all non profits misusing status and skirting rules.
The sport may in fact be doomed.
where's the beef? wrote:
I'm hard pressed to imagine what in that description could constitute a federal crime that the FBI could investigate. Lananna lobbied for the bid - not a federal crime. Coe had a conflict of interest and maybe he lobbied despite his denials - still not a federal crime.
This is weird, the IAAF had awarded sites before without an official bidding process.
The Swedes are being nazi babies.
On the other hand the IAAF might have done well to award the next one to Goteborg.
Vin L going to jail before AlSal...who woulda guessed it???
[quote]Sara Shuckabee wrote:
Most of the "sport" is shady.
While they're looking into Eugene and the Portland Marathon (http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2017/06/doj_issues_order_demanding_rec.html) the FBI and DOJ should revisit this too
Sounds like they're all non profits misusing status and skirting rules.
The sport may in fact be doomed.[/quote
]
You could be correct. The sport may need to be blowed up, both IAAF-wise and stateside.
If that happens I would not be surprised to see "the new ISAF," be in the USA.