John Furlong, the former head of VANOC, has spoken out about the ‘disrespect’ suffered by his family following an article published last week accusing him of physical abuse of native students at a Burns Lake school where he was a volunteer teacher from 1969-1970.

Sensational allegations of the abuse of native Indians made against Irish-born John Furlong, CEO of the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics and one of Canada’s most admired figures, have created a huge media storm.

John Furlong was the surprise choice as head of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Committee who came from nowhere and managed to pull off with aplomb a $1.9bn event that gripped the world.

John Furlong the Irish-born head of the Vancouver Olympic Games host committee has expressed his shock and sadness when he found out about the death of Georgian luge participant Nodar Kumaritashvili who died after an horrific crash during a training run.