Recommended for a severe warning

International Olympic Committee (IOC) investigators will recommend severe censure for the highest-ranking member implicated in the corruption scandal and a high-profile delegate from the next Olympic host country, Olympic sources told. Kim Un-yong, an executive board member from South Korea and a powerful leader of international sports, and Phil Coles, a longtime IOC member from Australia, barely escaped a recommendation that they be expelled, the sources said. A third leading member, former vice president Vitaly Smirnov of Russia, also will be recommended for a severe warning, said the sources, who spoke on the condition they not be identified. Only one new member, Seiuli Paul Wallwork of Western Samoa, will be recommended for expulsion by the six-man panel, according to the sources. Less severe warnings were proposed for members from the Ivory Coast, Guatemala, Mongolia, Togo, Barbados and Algeria. Three others, would be exonerated - Henry Edmund Olufemi Adefope of Nigeria, Ashwini Kumar of India and Ram Ruhee of Mauritius. The IOC was scheduled to announce the recommendations Friday. They must be acted upon by the ruling executive board before final action by a special general assembly next week.