Samaranch an opinion divider

Juan Antonio Samaranch, the former president of the International Olympic Committee, died at the age of 89 on Wednesday. He is credited with reviving the fortunes of the Olympic games, but was a man who divided opinion. Jacqueline Magnay in the Daily Telegraph has described him as a visionary ruler who divided and conquered.

Juan Antonio Samaranch may have overseen the most turbulent periods of the Olympic Movement that encompassed boycotts, bribery scandals and increasing athlete doping, but it was his undoubted diplomatic skill to manipulate people and circumstances that has enabled the Olympics to not only survive, but prosper.

No-one doubted Samaranch's ability to pull off the most outlandish proposition, a skill he established early on in his leadership when he ensured that Seoul, ahead of Nagoya, was elected to be the host of the 1988 Olympics back in 1981.

Remember, this was a time when the two Koreas were at war with each other, there were curfews in the streets and Seoul in South Korea was just a half hours drive from the Demilitarised Zone.

Yet, somehow, Samaranch ensured that the boycotting countries from the Los Angeles Olympics attended Seoul, but masterfully out-negotiated North Korea from being involved.

In his first negotiations with broadcasters, Samaranch wrested US $309 million for the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics, compared to the US $86 million secured for the 1980 Moscow Olympics. The staggering amounts from broadcasters ever since has underpinned the success of the Olympics.

Samaranch had a strong army of supporters, and a small band of detractors, throughout the 100 or so IOC members. But throughout his 21-year tenure, Samaranch ruled the IOC with none-too-subtle persuasion.

What he wanted he got, and while that was an effective way of controlling the IOC members, his demands for royal-like status were criticised heavily in the media.

Robert Hardman in the Daily Mail praises Samaranch for his work in dragging the Olympic movement off the floor, but feels it was not all rosy.

In his 21 years as president of the International Olympic Committee and, thus, as the most influential figure in world sport, Juan Antonio Samaranch took the Olympic movement on a turbulent journey from ruin to riches — but at great cost to its reputation.

His reign began in 1980 in the dismal aftermath of the Moscow Olympics. Many Western nations had boycotted the Games following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the Olympic rings were starting to crack.

Within a few years, however, Samaranch had transformed the Games into a multi-billion pound industry and he would go on to preside over some of the greatest sporting occasions of modern times.

But it was also Samaranch who turned the IOC into a personal fiefdom which became synonymous with arrogance and corruption. And for all his imperious talk about the role of the ‘Olympic Family’ in ‘the harmonious development of man’, it was, ultimately,
Samaranch who allowed the movement to become mired in scandal.

Snub a timely boost for Monty

England continue to overlook Monty Panesar, with the latest snub to the spinner being his omission from the Elite squad. But Mike Selvey in the Guardian feels it could act as a spur for the twirler to rediscover his best form.

The spinner's exclusion from the England Elite squad allows him get back to basics and reclaim a place for the Ashes tour

The announcement that the England performance squad includes no fewer than four spinners and that not one of them is called Monty Panesar should not be a cause for concern for fans of the Sikh of Tweak. It has been documented well enough that the last year, since his unlikely derring-do diligence with the bat in Cardiff, has not been kind to him.

But far from seeing this as a rejection and a further setback to his career, my guess is he will understand that this is Andy Flower and Geoff Miller looking after his best interests by keeping him out of the firing line until his rehabilitation as a world-class spin bowler is complete.

I am sure – at least I hope – that is what both have told him. Aside from good management of a considerable asset, it speaks strongly to me, if they have spoken to him in these terms, of an understanding of human nature and a complex individual. Monty will be back, and I would hope it is for next winter's Ashes tour. At any rate, they can now leave him alone for the season to enjoy his cricket at Hove.