LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- Olympic leaders recommended the expulsions of six IOC members Sunday in an unprecedented purge linked to the biggest corruption scandal in the history of the games.

The embattled president of the International Olympic Committee said the action was aimed at ending ''the ugliest chapter in the history'' of the world's biggest sports event, which in the last two decades has become a billion-dollar business.

As a third member resigned in the scandal, IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch said three other members remained under investigation, while a fourth was warned about his actions by the ruling executive board.

''The members violated their Olympic oath and betrayed the confidence put in them by the Olympic family,'' Samaranch said. ''These actions were inappropriate and against the policy of our organization.''

One member, Jean-Claude Ganga of the Republic of Congo, received $226,000 from Salt Lake in cash, medical and travel expenses, gifts and entertainment, according to the IOC report.

Samaranch announced the action at the end of a two-day emergency meeting to deal with a spiraling crisis that started with allegations of bribery in Salt Lake City's winning bid for the 2002 Winter Olympics.

He said those games would stay in Salt Lake and Sydney would keep the 2000 Summer Olympics, even though the investigation has spread to Australia.

Samaranch said the vote on the sanctions was unanimous and all of the six had been asked to resign because they had done ''great harm to the Olympic movement.''

''I express my deepest apology to the athletes, the people of Salt Lake City and Utah, the global Olympic family and the millions of citizens worldwide who love and respect the games,'' Samaranch said.

David Sibandze of Swaziland was the latest member to quit in the scandal, handing his resignation to Samaranch just before the report was released.Two other IOC members resigned last week.

The other six were urged by Samaranch to step down ''to put an end to the ugliest chapter in the history of the Olympic Games. ... The greatest service to the Olympic movement is to accept their fate.''

Samaranch said the IOC would form an ethics commission and continue the corruption investigation in other cities, going back to the bids for the 1996 Games won by Atlanta. He also said he would send two top officials to Sydney within three weeks to investigate the situation there

''We will do all that is necessary to preserve the integrity and ideals of the Olympic Games to restore the confidence of the public in the Olympic movement,'' he said. ''The executive board considers this investigation as a way to put our house in order and take the necessary reforms.
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