Court convicts head of French Olympic committee on corruption charges

The French Olympic Committee president was convicted on corruption charges Thursday and could be expelled from the IOC.
PARIS — The French Olympic Committee president was convicted on corruption charges Thursday and given a suspended three-month prison sentence. He said he would appeal.
    Henri Serandour, a member of the International Olympic Committee, was accused of giving two lucrative jobs to a communications company that had hired his wife, former swimmer Catherine Poirot.
    Serandour, 69, faces possible suspension and expulsion from the IOC following the verdict in a Paris criminal court, which convicted him of ''illegally taking advantages."
    Prosecutors had sought a six-month suspended sentence in the trial, which began in June.
    Serandour, an IOC member since 2000, could join former sports minister and Olympic champion Guy Drut as the second French member of the Olympic governing body to be suspended on corruption charges.
    Serandour told The Associated Press he could not be suspended by the IOC until his appeal has been heard. The IOC regularly awaits the outcomes of appeals before sanctioning members.
    Serandour's lawyer, Patrick Maisonneuve, noted that his client's IOC membership expires at the end of 2007 and an appeals court would likely not rule on the case before next summer.
    If the conviction is upheld, Serandour could appeal to a higher court, meaning the case could still be open when Serandour retires.
    ''Henri Serandour has always been of good faith,'' his attorney said. ''He never had the intention of taking advantage of anything.''
    The case is already before the IOC's ethics commission, which is waiting to receive the full file detailing the reasons behind the conviction, the IOC press office said. The IOC is expected to make its recommendation after fully reviewing the case.
    Drut, who won the 110-meter hurdles at the 1976 Montreal Olympics was given a 15-month suspended sentence last October and fined €50,000 for benefiting from a fictitious job at a construction company.
    In a widely criticized decision, French President Jacques Chirac pardoned Drut, who is also a lawmaker, opening the way for his return to the IOC. Drut was reinstated by the IOC but barred from chairing a commission.
    The IOC also holds the right to expel any member found guilty of corruption.
    Maisonneuve, the lawyer, said that Serandour ''will not seek any sort of pardon but will use the normal route'' to clear his name.
    Serandour came under scrutiny for awarding the company Pleyades — which had just hired his wife — with contracts for the renovation of the French committee's Web site and the creation of a mural with the photos of 600 French Olympic medalists.
    In the case of the Internet site, bids were sought only after the Court of Auditers criticized the procedure. The company, Pleyades, won the contract, but had allegedly already been contacted before bids went out.