Turmoil at top of sports bodies a year after Rio FIFA

The Olympic family of sports is in a period of turmoil one year after a troubled Rio de Janeiro Games.

A slew of critical headlines for sport’s world governing bodies in the past week has tarnished soccer’s FIFA, swimming’s FINA and boxing’s AIBA organizations.

A theme is allegations of financial mismanagement to retain power and influence in the sports governance world that typically involves first-class travel, five-star hotels and access to political leaders.

Personal enrichment is alleged against a rising star of the International Olympic Committee, former sprinter Frankie Fredericks. Track and field body IAAF suspended Fredericks last week from its ruling committee during a probe of the $300,000 payment to his company on the day in 2009 that Rio was chosen to host the 2016 Olympics. Fredericks denies any wrongdoing.

The state of AIBA’s institutional finances led its executive committee to pass a vote of no confidence in President Ching-Kuo Wu. An IOC executive board member, Wu denied reports AIBA risks bankruptcy because investors want their money back.

Another IOC board member, Patrick Hickey, has been “self-suspended” for 11 months since being arrested in Rio for alleged links to scalping Olympic tickets.

The IOC, which passed a 2014 resolution urging sports organizations to commit to improved governance, declined comment Wednesday on recent issues facing Summer Games sports:

FIFA’s senior vice president Angel Maria Villar is in a Spanish jail facing a range of corruption allegations.

Villar, who has led Spain’s football federation for 29 years, was among four arrested this month, including his son. Gorka Villar, who was a FIFA reform adviser in 2015, allegedly benefited from deals linked to friendly matches involving Spain’s national team.