Could Fiesta Bowl lose BCS game over officials' misconduct?

SCOTTSDALE, AZ - A major sponsor of the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl issued a statement saying it was "surprised and disappointed to learn the findings of the Fiesta Bowl's internal investigation."

Frito-Lay said in the e-mailed statement, " We are pleased that the Fiesta Bowl is taking concrete action to address the findings of its report, and expect it to move quickly to implement its announced reforms. We are being updated regularly by the Fiesta Bowl organization and will be evaluating the situation as it progresses."

The Fiesta Bowl could lose its status as a premier college football bowl because of serious allegations of misconduct by top officials.

On Tuesday, the BCS announced it will consider whether the Fiesta Bowl should remain a BCS bowl game or other appropriate sanctions after the allegations came to light.

The allegations including questionable political contributions, expensive trips to strip clubs, and spending $30,000 on a birthday party for the Fiesta Bowl's President and CEO, John Junker.

"The entire Fiesta Bowl family is angered and disappointed," said Fiesta Bowl Chairman of the Board, Duane Woods.

To keep from losing its BCS status, the Fiesta Bowl Board of Directors voted unanimously to fire Junker after a five-month internal investigation into improper campaign contributions, expenditures and compensation.

According to a Fiesta Bowl news release , a special committee formed to conduct the investigation reported :

• An apparent scheme to reimburse at least $46,539 in improper campaign contributions.
• A flawed initial investigation and an apparent conspiracy to conceal the reimbursement scheme from the Board of Directors and state officials.
• Unauthorized and excessive compensation, non-business and inappropriate expenditures and inappropriate gifts.

The political donations may violate state and federal campaign finance laws and the Arizona Attorney General's office is now investigating.

“We're completely open to cooperate and will cooperate with the attorney general’s investigation,” said Woods.

According to the report, when Junker turned 50 back in 2005, the non-profit Fiesta Bowl paid more than $33,000 for a birthday party in Pebble Beach, California.

The report also revealed Junker spent more than $1200 at a Valley strip club during one of six trips to the club.

“The lesson here really is that we placed too much trust in a single individual,” said Woods.

The investigation included review of tens of thousands of documents, electronic data and interviews with more than 50 people.

Junker had been placed on administrative leave on February 14 after reportedly failing to cooperate with the investigation.

Junker joined the Fiesta Bowl in 1980 and was named President and CEO in 2000, according to The Fiesta Bowl website.

The Fiesta Bowl Board of Directors also announced it has adopted "sweeping reforms" to add additional transparency and oversight to prevent similar events from occurring in the future including:

• The Board of Directors will retain and work with an executive search firm to identify and hire a new Executive Director, Chief Financial Officer and General Counsel/Compliance Officer to oversee the business affairs of the organization and ensure that strict new policies and procedures are followed.
   
• The General Counsel/Chief Compliance Officer will report directly to the Audit & Compliance Committee, Executive Committee and the Board. The General Counsel/Chief Compliance Officer will be responsible for overseeing all legal and regulatory matters and for monitoring the compliance and enforcement of the Fiesta Bowl governance policies, including its conflict of interest policy, expense reimbursement policy, political activity policy, record retention & document destruction policy, travel policy and whistleblower protection policy.
   
• The Board of Directors will review and approve all compensation payable to Fiesta Bowl senior level and other key staff members. In addition, all expense reimbursements paid to the Executive Director or any director must now be approved by the Executive Committee. All expense reimbursements payable to any other officers also must be approved by at least one member of the Executive Committee. All members of the Executive Committee must be Directors.
   
• The Board of Directors has adopted a comprehensive whistleblower policy, including a “hotline” which will be monitored by an independent company. Any complaints can be reported anonymously and the Executive Committee will be immediately notified.
   
• The Audit Committee has been restructured and is now known as the Audit & Compliance Committee. It will consist of board members who are financial experts or who have other substantial non-profit organization financial expertise or experience. The Audit & Compliance Committee will oversee financial reporting matters and will also review and oversee the Chief Compliance Officer’s enforcement of the Fiesta Bowl Code of Ethics, policies and other legal