IOC
suspends Brazil's Nuzman after arrest over vote-buying allegations
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[October 07, 2017]
ZURICH (Reuters) - Brazil's
national Olympic committee (COB) and its head Carlos Nuzman were
provisionally suspended by the International Olympic Committee on
Friday, a day after the 75-year-old was arrested in Rio de Janeiro
in connection with a corruption investigation.
However, the IOC said in a statement Brazilian athletes would not be
affected and Team Brazil would be able to take part at next year's
Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.
Nuzman, a former IOC member and now honorary member, is accused of
arranging more than $2 million in bribes to get the IOC to pick Rio
de Janeiro as host of the 2016 Olympic Games and faces allegations
including corruption and money-laundering. He has denied any
wrongdoing.
Rio was awarded the Games in 2009, successfully bidding against
Chicago, Tokyo and Madrid.
The IOC said Nuzman would provisionally lose all the "the rights,
prerogatives and functions" deriving from his IOC status and that he
would be withdrawn from the coordination commission for the 2020
Tokyo Olympics.
The COB was suspended because it was responsible for Rio's bid to
stage the Games, the IOC said. As a result, subsidies and payments
from the IOC have been frozen.
"This decision shall not affect the Brazilian athletes," it added.
"The IOC will accept a Brazilian Olympic Team in the Olympic Winter
Games Pyeongchang 2018 and in all other competitions under the
umbrella of the COB with all rights and obligations."
The COB in Rio de Janeiro said it did not immediately have any
comment to make when contacted by Reuters.
The decision was welcomed by IOC member Richard Peterkin, who has
repeatedly criticized the IOC leadership in recent months for its
handling of several corruption cases involving members.
"It had to be done," Peterkin, an IOC member from St Lucia, said on
Facebook. "There was just too much evidence, some of it self
incriminating.
"The reputational damage for the Olympic Movement is huge, and there
will be more revelations to come. We need to drain the swamp."
LATEST INCIDENT
In August 2016, IOC President Thomas Bach awarded the organization's
highest honor, the Olympic Order in gold, to Nuzman, praising his
work for the Rio Games.
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Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB) President Carlos Arthur Nuzman
leaves the Federal Police headquarters heading to jail, in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil, October 5, 2017. REUTERS/Bruno Kelly
Nuzman is the latest official to be involved in ongoing corruption
investigations and a further blow to the reputation of the Olympics.
Frankie Fredericks, another IOC member, has temporarily stepped down
from his posts pending the results of those investigations. He
denies any wrongdoing.
Senior IOC member Patrick Hickey, who has also vehemently denied any
wrongdoing, has imposed a self-suspension since he was involved in
an Irish Olympic Committee ticket scandal and in September resigned
from the IOC Executive Board.
Nelio Machado, a lawyer for Nuzman, told reporters on Thursday that
the vote-buying accusations were unfounded.
Brazilian police first raided Nuzman’s home in September and accused
him of paying a $2 million bribe to the son of Lamine Diack, a
former IOC member from Senegal and former head of the international
athletics federation (IAAF).
Both Diack and his son have denied the allegations. Namibian
Fredericks has admitted receiving money from Diack's son but has
said it was for professional services rendered.
Marcelo Bretas, the federal judge who authorized the arrests, said
on Thursday that new evidence indicated that Nuzman’s role in the
alleged vote-buying scheme was “more relevant” than previously
thought.
(Reporting by John Miller in Zurich, Pedro Fonseca in Rio de Janeiro
and Karolos Grohmann in Berlin,; Writing by Brian Homewood, editing
by Ed Osmond and Toby Davis)
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