Schmitt Denies Ethics Breach

(ATR) IOC member Pal Schmitt speaks for the first time about the scandal that led to his downfall as president of Hungary and a hiatus from the IOC.

He says he was not guilty of plagiarism or any ethical misconduct involving his 1992 doctoral thesis.

In a letter to Around the Rings, Schmitt attempted to set the record straight after media reports said Semmelweis University in Hungary had determined that he did plagiarize his thesis.

According to Hungarian media, widely reported elsewhere including on ATR, the university confirmed the outcome of an investigation in March 2012 that more than 200 pages of the 215-page thesis titled: "An analysis of the Program of Modern Olympic Games" – had "unusually large amounts of verbatim translation."

Schmitt hit back, saying: "I prepared and submitted my thesis in good faith in accordance with the requirements in place at the time."

The 71-year-old said the university "never accused me of committing plagiarism… the senate declared professional ethical misconduct which accusation upon my appeal to the rector of the university has been overridden by the appeals committee."

He added: "As you may see in the resolution I am not declared to have committed any ethical misconduct, on the contrary it is clearly stated that the appeals committee found the ‘Hungarian University of Physical Education was declared to be unlawful and ethically objectionable for their conduct of awarding doctoral degrees and the manner of their formal evaluation process.

"Regarding the above resolution I regained my honour, and my appeal was successful."

He said that after hearing of the final resolution, "considering its content and driven by code of honor I renounced the using of the lesser doctorate degree of mine as it was awarded within a then faulty practice and procedure".

Last month, the IOC Executive Board ruled on Schmitt’s case. The EB issued him with a warning and said he would remain an IOC member despite the scandal. When word of the allegations surfaced Schmitt was serving as president of Hungary, a post he resigned April 2, 2012. Former chair of the IOC Commission on Sport and Environment, Schmitt will not serve as chair of any more commissions.

Schmitt, who won a second Olympic gold at Munich in 1972 and competed in the 1976 Montreal Games, voluntarily relinquished all IOC duties last year after launching his appeal into allegations that his 1992 thesis was plagiarized. The scandal kept him away from the London Olympics.

But the IOC ruling now paves the way for Schmitt to return to attending IOC meetings for the first time in more than a year. He is seventh in seniority on the IOC, a member since 1983.

Reported by Mark Bisson.

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