Until now it had been unknown who had made the allegatation which set in the motion the events that led to Chu, an Athens 2004 taekwondo gold medallist, (pictured top) being disqualified for breaching strict campaigning rules.

But it has now emerged in the full report on the Court of Arbitration (CAS) ruling on the case, which insidethegames has obtained a copy of, that it was the AOC's director of sport, Fiona de Jong, who had sent an email to the IOC claiming that she had been told by athletes that Chu had been "distributing lollipops", a claim that he always denied.

Australia had a candidate, triple Olympic rowing champion James Tomkins, in the election, who was subsquently elected after finishing second, behind Slovakian skeet shooter Danka Barteková.

The CAS Panel, chaired by Italy's Professor Luigi Fumagalli and containinng Britain's Michael Beloff and Switzerland's Hans Nater, found no evidence that Chu had given lollipops to anyone but did rule he was guilty of breaking other election rules, including campaigning in areas that he was not allowed to and upheld the IOC decision.

Chu's disqualification, along with that of Japan hammer thrower Koji Murofushi, who is also appealing at CAS, allowed Zimbabwe swimmer Kirsty Coventry and French canoeist Tony Estanguet to finish among the top four, along with Barteková and Tomkins, who are all elected IOC members. 

Coventry was among those who gave evidence against Chu at the CAS hearing in Lausanne.

She told the Panel that "she was approached three times, twice in the restricted area and once outside it, by Mr Chu, who was asking for her vote, unaware that she was also a candidate, and that she saw him using an iPad", according to the report insidethegames has obtained.

The AOC refused to comment.

To read David Owen: The mysterious case of the disappearing lollipops click here.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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