Disgraced President of Brazilian Olympic Committee resigns

World Today

The Brazilian Olympic Committee has accepted the resignation of its president, Carlos Nuzman.

He was arrested on suspicion of buying votes to secure the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games.

Both Nuzman and Brazil’s Olympic body have been provisionally suspended by the International Olympic Committee.

CGTN’s Lucrecia Franco reports.

Follow Lucrecia C. Franco on Twitter @LucreciaFranco

With athletes protesting against corruption outside its headquarters, the Brazilian Olympic Committee accepted the resignation of its president.

“From a personal standpoint, the feeling is of sadness, but for the organization, the feeling is relief,” Paulo Wanderley, the Interim President of the Brazilian Olympic Committee said.

Carlos Nuzman, now the former head of the Brazilian Olympic body, was arrested last week on bribery and fraud charges.

He is accused of helping to buy votes from the International Olympic Committee to secure Rio’s bid for the 2016 games and of hiding 16 one-kilogram gold bars in Switzerland.

Nuzman has denied any wrong doing.

Brazilian police and prosecutors say that they have enough evidence to prove Nuzman’s involvement in the scheme.

“While the Olympic medalists sought their much desired gold medals, the Olympic Committee leaders kept their gold in Switzerland,” Fabiana Schneider, a federal prosecutor said.

Prosecutors believe that Papa Massata Diack, the son of a disgraced Senegalese IOC member, received two million dollars to sway African IOC voters to pick Rio de Janiero.

Seventy-five year old Nuzman, who led the Brazilian Olympic Committee for over 20 years, had his IOC honorary membership revoked and has been ousted of the commission for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

After accepting Nuzman’s decision to step down, Brazil’s Olympic Committee is expecting the IOC will lift the suspension and will continue to make payments that have been frozen since the scandal broke.

The Rio 2016 organizers still owe an increasingly impatient group of creditors more than $30 million and are counting on the IOC to help them pay the debt.