The International Olympic Committee has provisionally suspended France's Guy Drut, the former French Sports Minister under investigation for corruption.
In October, Drut was given a 15-month suspended sentence for taking more than $3,000 salary for a non-existent job with a construction company. Two other former French government ministers were also sentenced in the case.
The IOC Ethics Commission recommended a provisional suspension pending the outcome of Drut's appeal of his case. If Drut's conviction is upheld, he could be expelled from the IOC.
Drut won the 110-meter hurdles gold medal at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal and is a member of French President Jacques Chirac's UMP Party. The French IOC member insists that his conscience is clear.
His case is the latest in a series of corruption cases involving IOC officials. Bulgaria's Ivan Slavkov was expelled from the IOC in July, and Indonesia's Mohamad "Bob" Hasan was kicked out in August of last year. Former IOC Vice President Kim Un-yong of South Korea resigned earlier this year after being suspended on corruption charges.
Some information for this report provided by AP.
