Authorities allege Rio Games vote-buying scheme
Brazilian Olympic Committee president was a central player in plan, investigators say
RIO DE JANEIRO— Brazilian and French authorities said Tuesday they uncovered an international corruption scheme aimed at buying votes in awarding the 2016 Olympics.
This is the latest allegation to sully the legacy of the Rio Games, the first Olympics in South America.
The disclosures came as police in Rio raided the home of Brazilian Olympic Committee president Carlos Nuzman. They emerged with suitcases, documents and a computer. Police said detention warrants had been issued for Nuzman and an associate, businessman Arthur Cesar de Menezes Soares Filho, who authorities believe to be in Miami.
Nuzman left his house accompanied by his lawyer and later appeared at a police station for questioning. He left a few hours later without commenting.
Lawyer Sergio Mazzillo said his client would co-operate but “did not commit any irregularity.”
“Unfortunately, this has created a media spectacle,” Mazzillo said.
In total, 11 detention warrants were issued for people in both Brazil and France in what police dubbed “Operation Unfair Play.”
At a news conference, investigators said Nuzman, an honorary member of the International Olympic Committee, was a central player in buying votes for Rio’s Olympic bid in 2009.
Nuzman brought together Soares Filho and Lamine Diack, the former head of track and field’s governing body who at the time was an IOC voting member, according to authorities. Soares Filho’s company, Matlock Capital Group, allegedly paid Diack $2 million (U.S.) through accounts in the Caribbean.
Construction and concession companies that stood to gain were behind the push to bring the games to Rio by any means necessary, prosecutor Fabiana Schneider said. She said Sergio Cabral, the former governor of Rio de Janeiro who has been jailed on a different corruption conviction, was also a key player.
“The Olympic Games were used as a big trampoline for acts of corruption,” Schneider said.
The IOC said it had “learned about these circumstances from the media and is making every effort to get the full information.”
The 75-year-old Nuzman was an IOC member for 12 years. He is part of the 2020 Tokyo Games co-ordination commission, which advises organizers in running the event.
Chicago, Madrid, Tokyo and Rio were candidates for the 2016 Olympics. The vote was held in 2009 in Copenhagen with Rio defeating Madrid 66-32. Chicago, seen as having the best bid, was eliminated in the first round of voting.
“This is quite damaging” to the IOC, said Andrew Zimbalist, an economist who recently wrote a book on fallout from the Rio Olympics. “The IOC tried to say goodbye to Rio in August 2016, but the issues arising from the $20-billion-plus extravaganza won’t go away.”
Soon after the Rio Summer Games, IOC president Thomas Bach awarded Nuzman the “Olympic Order,” given to those who have made extraordinary contributions to the Olympics.