Juan Antonio Samaranch

Another important way in which Samaranch strengthened the Olympics franchise was through his successful recruitment of big business sponsors. In return the corporate sponsors enjoyed unprecedented worldwide marketing opportunities. At the same time he was growing the corporate sponsorship of the Olympics, Samaranch and the IOC seemed to be doing little about the problem of doping. The IOC's anti-doping enforcement measures hardly made a dent in the thriving practice, critics argued.

According to its critics, pressure to open up the IOC and make it more accountable for its actions and inaction has had little effect on the organization, which remains pretty much a closed shop. Delegates to the IOC are not elected, nor do they represent their home countries or those countries Olympic committees. Instead, they are co-opted by the IOC, ensuring that their loyalty lies with it. Upon their induction into the IOC, new members take an oath to respect the decisions of the IOC, which Samaranch considered to be nonnegotiable. Further cementing Samaranch's hold on the closed shop of the IOC was the fact that no delegate joined the committee without the express approval of His Excellency, as Samaranch was known by obedient delegates.