COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. USOC sponsors want Congress to stay out of reform process

The scandal involving the USOC's chief caught the government's attention.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) -- Some of the U.S. Olympic Committee's top sponsors have a message for politicians trying to fix the embattled organization: stick with what you know.
Representatives from about 100 USOC sponsors attended a three-day workshop this week to discuss the state of the organization and its plans for the future.
Most agreed that the USOC was headed in the right direction. A few said Congress should keep its nose out of the reform process.
"The Senate should stay out of it," said Kevin Steele of 24 Hour Fitness. "The Senate doesn't have an expertise in this. Granted, they have to look at certain things, but at the end of the day that's what they developed the USOC's charter for.
"They should take the lead from the expertise they've put in place. They can't micromanage every little thing."
The government first turned its attention to the USOC earlier this year when a scandal involving CEO Lloyd Ward led to eight resignations and a round of infighting unlike any in the 25-year history of the scandal-plagued organization.
Sen. McCain's bill
A Senate commerce committee created an independent commission to look at reforming the USOC, and a bill by Arizona Sen. John McCain has been forwarded based on the those recommendations.
International Olympic Committee officials have raised concerns that the bill won't conform with the Olympic charter, but Colorado Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell has said he won't fold under pressure from the IOC.
Some sponsors are wondering why the government would ignore something that works for every other national Olympic committee.
"The Olympic Games is a worldwide product," Kodak's Gregory Walker said. "While the USOC is the largest organizing committee, it is one of 200. Therefore, the nature of the management of the Olympic family and all of its constituents needs to be somewhat consistent.
"I think our government needs to respect the overarching principles and structure of the Olympic family."
The sponsors believe that's what the USOC is doing with its governance plan.
Last week, a USOC task force received clearance from the IOC on its restructuring plans, which include a drastic reduction in its governance structure and stiffer ethics provisions.
Board to vote on reforms
The USOC's board of directors will vote on the reforms at a meeting Oct. 17-19 in Cleveland and officials do not plan to wait for Congress to approve legislation before making the changes.
USOC chief executive Jim Scherr outlined the proposal during the workshop that ended Friday. It was the first time USOC officials addressed the sponsors as a group since the turmoil began.
"It was really exciting to come out here to the USOC and really see what their plan of attack was, what their goals were," Allstate's Geralyn Thompson said. "We had an opportunity to see that they have their heads in the right direction, that they're focused on Athens and they're committed to sponsors."
Not that it was always that way.
At the height of the scandal, John Hancock Financial Services CEO David D'Alessandro threatened to invoke a morals clause and pull out of an endorsement deal if the organization didn't shape up.
Other sponsors weren't ready to go that far, but there were concerns.
"It was a major distraction in building a marketing program for the upcoming year and the controversy just deflected focus from the things you should be concentrating on," Walker said.