MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The International Olympic Committee said Friday it was suspending Brazil’s Olympic Committee after its head was arrested over a bribery investigation.
On Thursday, media reports emerged claiming that president of the Brazilian National Olympic Committee Carlos Arthur Nuzman was arrested by the federal police in connection with the case on bribing to bring the 2016 Summer Olympics to Rio de Janeiro.
“The IOC Executive Board (EB) has taken note and discussed the circumstances of the allegations against and the arrest of Mr. Carlos Nuzman, in particular concerning the vote for the host city of the Olympic Games by the IOC Session in 2009. With regard to the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB), the EB states that the COB and its President, Carlos Nuzman, were responsible for the candidature of Rio de Janeiro in 2009. Therefore, the EB takes the following decision with immediate effect: To suspend provisionally the Brazilian Olympic Committee,” the statement read.
The IOC also decided to suspend Nuzman provisionally "from all the rights, prerogatives and functions deriving from his quality as an IOC Honorary Member; and to withdraw Mr Carlos Nuzman from the Coordination Commission for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020," the statement said.
The Committee reiterated its commitment to protecting the integrity of sport and stressed it would continue to follow up the case and to fully cooperate with all judicial authorities participating in the investigation.
Nuzman is believed to have been a "bridge" between the government of the former governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro Sergio Cabral Filho and the members of the International Olympic Committee. In June, Cabral Filho was sentenced to 14 years for passive corruption.
According to the prosecution, Nuzman is suspected of having organized a bribe of $2 million for Rio to be named the host city.
