OLYMPICS United States committee clears reform with IOC

A key meeting takes place in Cleveland next month.
DENVER (AP) -- The U.S. Olympic Committee cleared its reform plan with the IOC and will proceed with the changes even if no federal legislation is in place.
The USOC's board of directors will meet next month in Cleveland to vote on an in-house task force's restructuring plan. Legislation to change the USOC has been introduced in Washington, but it could be months before any bill passes.
USOC officials don't want to wait that long. If the proposal passes, the USOC plans to have most of the changes in place by the end of January.
"We can't wait anymore for someone to make the decision for us," said Frank Marshall, co-chair of the task force. "I believe we need to make the changes ourselves and go forward with Athens coming up. We're all lame ducks right now."
The task force has called for a drastic reduction in the size of its board of directors and stiffer ethics regulations in what would be the most sweeping changes in the USOC's 25-year history.
The board will vote on the reforms at a meeting Oct. 17-19.
No comment
A spokeswoman for Colorado Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell said he is still working on legislation to reform the USOC, but wouldn't weigh in on the USOC's plans at this time.
IOC officials had plenty to say after the task force's initial proposal in April.
The IOC raised concerns that the USOC's proposed structure would not conform to the Olympic charter, and met with members of the task force last week. After concessions by both sides, the IOC approved the USOC's plan on Friday.
"I think it's a pretty powerful statement if you have the U.S. athletes, the people who run the sports and then you have the IOC saying this is a pretty good plan," said Bob Ctvrtlik, an American member of the IOC member. "I think it's at least something Congress will pay attention to."