Prince Albert II of Monaco is a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
As such, Albert votes on where the Olympics shall be played. This is a highly-competitive business.
In early July 2007, the IOC met to vote on which city should host the 2014 Winter Olympics.
Albert voted for Sochi, in Russia.
Several months earlier, Russian laborers began building a three-bedroom dacha (traditional Russian house) on the grounds of Roc Agel, Prince Albert's private estate in the mountains behind Monaco. (See image.)
The dacha was a personal gift from the Russian state.
It is a violation of the IOC's Code of Ethics for an IOC Member to receive a gift from a country engaged in bidding to host the Olympic Games.
Albert never declared his gift to IOC's leadership.
He kept it secret.
Clearly, Russia's Vladimir PUTIN sweetened Albert's disposition toward Sochi with an expensive personal gift.
Others would call it a bribe.
The IOC should investigate this blatant act of crookedness.
Alas, that is what its Ethics Commission was created to do--and claims a "zero tolerance" for corruption.
AN OFFICIAL COMPLAINT SHALL BE FILED IMMINENTLY.