KIEV: The general secretary of Ukraine's National OlympicsCommittee (NOC) resigned on Monday following claims by the BBC hesought to sell tickets for the London Games on the black market. "Volodymyr Gerashchenko has submitted his resignation from theposition of general secretary of the NOC," the committee said in astatement, adding he had pledged to cooperate with an independentinvestigation commission. The BBC revealed last week that Gerashchenko had been exposed in asting operation trying to sell some 100 tickets for the LondonOlympic Games. In a bid to contain a growing scandal that also threatens to shadowUkraine's co-hosting of the Euro football next month, the OlympicsCommittee said it has developed "an immediate reaction plan" overthe scandal. It said that the creation of the independent investigationcommission has already been approved and it would consist of threetop Ukrainian legal experts. "The Ukraine NOC is an independent non-governmental organisationworking openly and in accordance with the highest ethicalprinciples and it is committed to putting every effort intoinvestigating this issue," the statement added. The swift reaction to the claims has been led by the president ofUkraine's NOC, pole vaulting great Sergei Bubka who immediatelysuspended Gerashchenko after the report emerged last week. After receiving information that someone from the NOC might beprepared to sell tickets, a BBC reporter posing as an unauthorisedticket dealer from Britain spoke to Gerashchenko, who reportedlyconfirmed he would be prepared to sell tickets. The BBC said Gerashchenko, general secretary since 1997, told thereporter: "I understand you're a dealer -- that's why for me, youare priority number one, the top, the person, in case we have extratickets to contact you, we contact you." When asked by the BBC why he was prepared to break Olympic rulesand British law in offering his country's Olympic tickets on theblack market, Gerashchenko reportedly claimed he had "never plannedto sell tickets in the UK" and had been making "diplomatic talk tosatisfy the persistent interest of the ticket dealer". Bubka said last week he had spoken to the London Games supremo andrunning legend Sebastian Coe and vowed to "ensure that we fullycooperate with any subsequent investigation that takes place inLondon". The scandal has blown up at an extremely uncomfortable moment forUkraine, as it prepares for Euro football amid Western disapprovalover its treatment of jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko andconcern over racism in the country. - AFP/ck. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as Solar Powered Street Lights , Solar Charging Controller Manufacturer, and more. For more , please visit Poly Solar Panels today!
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