HAMBURG, Jan 6: International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Juan Antonio Samaranch today admitted having accepted two guns as gifts from the Olympic bidders Salt Lake City.Samaranch made his confession in an interview with the Swiss 24 Heures daily, but insisted he could simply not refuse the gifts. ``I didn't want to reject the presents because in that area weapons are a part of the tradition. Rejecting them would have been an insult.''
The gun revelation was the latest incident around the IOC bribery scandal which was broken by the Salt Lake City media and Swiss IOC member Marc Hodler.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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