WASHINGTON - At the cost of a $1 million fine, the Fiesta Bowl will keep its place in the Bowl Championship Series.
The BCS presidential oversight committee imposed the penalty Wednesday in the wake of a scandal that included apparently illegal campaign contributions from staff, and lavish spending by the former CEO on parties and a night at a strip club.
With the ruling, the Fiesta Bowl can remain part of the system for deciding college football's national champion, although in addition to the fine, it also must meet certain BCS demands such as strengthening the Fiesta Bowl's board and imposing greater supervision over bowl executives.
"The message is they had cleaned house and addressed their problems, but our group doesn't believe they went far enough," Bill Hancock, executive director of the BCS, said in a telephone interview. He added the $1 million fine was meant to reflect the "serious nature of the matter."
People are also reading…
The BCS called for the money to be donated to charities serving Arizona youth.
In a statement, Fiesta Bowl Chairman Duane Woods said: "The Fiesta Bowl Board of Directors understands and accepts the sanctions imposed by the BCS. We think that these tough, but fair, measures are consistent with our commitment to reform the Fiesta Bowl's governance and rebuild trust."
The bowl should not have much trouble raising the cash. In a filing with the IRS this year, the Fiesta Bowl listed more than $15 million in net assets.
A recent internal report by the Fiesta Bowl detailed about $45,000 in reimbursements to employees for political donations, an apparent violation of federal and state laws. It also revealed inappropriate spending, such as $33,000 for a Pebble Beach, Calif., birthday bash for then-CEO and president John Junker, $13,000 for the wedding and honeymoon of an aide, and a $1,200 strip club tab for Junker and two others. Junker was fired.
The oversight committee Wednesday accepted recommendations made in a report by a BCS task force, which said it was "deeply troubled" by the Fiesta Bowl's actions.
Those actions, the task force said, strongly suggest "that the bowl's executive staff frequently acted with scant regard for ethics and proper conduct."
The Fiesta Bowl, played at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, is one of four bowls that rotates hosting the BCS national title game.
