Election in COB: Hortência demands Ministry of Sports – 10/01/2024 – Sports

Amid the dispute for the presidency of the COB (Brazilian Olympic Committee) in which the current president’s candidacy for re-election is contested by athletes and the opposition, the former basketball player and representative of the class at the Ministry of Sports, Hortência Marcari, demanded minister André Fufuca (PP-MA) a position.

“I think it’s an important entity in Brazilian sport, how come it doesn’t speak out? How can it not take a stand at such an important moment like this?”, says Hortência in an interview with Sheet.

Current president of the COB, Paulo Wanderley assumed the presidency for the first time in 2017, after the resignation of Carlos Arthur Nuzman, who was being investigated at the time by the PF (Federal Police) on suspicion of paying bribes for choosing Rio de Janeiro as the headquarters. of the Games in 2016.

In 2020, Wanderley won the elections, and, on the last day of registration for this year’s election, he registered his candidacy, with Alberto Maciel Júnior as vice-president.

Associations that bring together Olympic athletes, such as Cacob (Athletes’ Commission of the Brazilian Olympic Committee), of which Hortência is a member, took a stand against the leader’s candidacy, due to the fact that a third term is prohibited by the statute of the COB itself and also violates the Pelé Law and the General Sports Law.

According to the athletes’ understanding, the candidacy may result in the suspension of the transfer of federal resources to the Olympic committee and, consequently, to the confederations and the athletes.

Wanderley is based on a legal opinion favorable to his candidacy commissioned by the COB, after questioning received from Cacob.

According to the opinion, as he assumed the presidency in a buffer term after Nuzman’s resignation, Wanderley still has the right to seek what he understands to be his first re-election.

The position of the COB ethics council was also favorable to the candidacy for re-election.

When contacted, the Ministry of Sports said it had only received a consultation from the COB that addresses the entity’s electoral process and is analyzing its content. “Once the analysis is completed, the result will be made public.”

Opinions from the Ministry and the Federal Court of similar cases indicate that the possible reelection could cause the entity’s public financing to be blocked, which from 2025 includes revenue from bets.

“COB has just signed a R$160 million contract with Caixa. If the ministry confirms the opinions against re-election, as it has been doing, COB runs the risk of losing its sponsorship”, says Hortência.

According to her, who is also an advisor to the Pact for Sports movement, the athletes tried in recent days to meet with Minister Fufuca to discuss the COB elections, but so far they have not been received.

“We are having problems with the main sports entity, which is the Brazilian Olympic Committee, which manages national sports, and I think the Ministry should give its opinion. So far we haven’t seen that”, says the Hall of Fame member of basketball, who held the position of director of selections at the CBB (Brazilian Basketball Confederation) between 2009 and 2013.

“[O ministério] Are you only going to speak after the elections? Like this? Then it could be a serious problem”, adds the former athlete, who refers to the risk of suspension of the transfer of government funds to the COB.

Based on the understanding that Wanderley’s candidacy is not legitimate, Hortência says he expects that the 19 athletes with the right to vote will have a joint position in favor of the opposition candidacy, formed by Marco La Porta and Yane Marques.

Also voting in the elections on October 3 are the 34 presidents of the Olympic confederations affiliated to the committee, and the two Brazilian members of the IOC (International Olympic Committee) — Andrew Parsons and Bernard Rajzman.

Silver at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Hortência says that the lack of professionalization of Brazilian basketball prevents the country from fighting for the podium again in an edition of the Games.

The men’s team advanced to the quarterfinals in Paris, falling to the United States, while the women’s team did not qualify for the last two editions of the Olympics.

“We never had professional management in basketball. We were world champions (1994), runner-up in the Olympics, bronze in Sydney-2000, and they didn’t know how to take advantage of the opportunity.”