Olympic Committee could lose funding with re-elected president – 09/30/2024 – Sports
Opinions from the Ministry of Sports and Federal Justice indicate that the possible re-election of Paulo Wanderley to the presidency of the COB (Brazilian Olympic Committee) could cause a block in the entity’s public financing, which from 2025 includes revenue from bets.
For 2024, R$461.4 million in Lottery funds were allocated to the COB, which also passes this money on to the confederations.
There is still no estimate for the amount for 2025, but it will certainly be much higher, since the law foresees the beginning of online betting transfers.
The committee also closed, in February this year, a sponsorship with Caixa worth R$160 million.
The cut of this funding depends on the interpretation of the legislation.
Since 2014, the transfer of public resources to entities whose president has been reappointed more than once consecutively has been prohibited. The General Sports Law, approved in 2023, contains this provision.
Opponents claim that a new term for Wanderley would be his third, but he claims it would be his second — and both sides are already predicting judicialization.
There is no opinion on this specific case, but similar situations have already been the subject of demonstrations by the Ministry of Sports and Justice.
Wanted by Sheethe says that he is “unaware of the existence of any opinion contrary to his candidacy” and that he does not work with the hypothesis that his election will lead to a veto.
When questioned, the Ministry of Sports did not respond.
Carlos Arthur Nuzman was elected president of the COB in 2016 with Wanderley as vice president, but resigned following allegations of corruption.
So, in 2017, his subordinate took over the position. He ran and was elected to remain in office in 2020 and now wants to be re-elected.
Wanderley says that this would be his first re-election because between 2017 and 2020 he held the position provisionally.
“Brazilian sports legislation does not prohibit re-election when the first period is a so-called ‘buffer mandate'”, he stated, in a note.
THE Sheet had access to a series of legal analyzes from the Ministry of Sports in recent years regarding the transfer of public funds. At least six opinions have been published on this since 2020.
None specifically deal with the hypothetical election of Wanderley this year, but whenever they deal with the accounting of reappointments to office, they corroborate the view that buffer cases should be considered as regular mandates and can lead to a cut in funding.
The most recent manifestation, a response to a request for the Access to Information Law, is from the beginning of September this year. She says that the “Ministry of Sports’ understanding of the issue remains the same.”
In February this year, the Federal Court of the Federal District analyzed the CBV (Brazilian Volleyball Confederation) case. The decision, to which the Sheet had access, says the same thing: the buffer mandate must, in fact, be counted as a common mandate and could cause a funding blockage.
Federal funding for all Brazilian Olympic sports is concentrated in the COB, which decentralizes resources to other sports confederations. For the year 2024, the forecast was that R$225 million would be transferred to these entities.
The veto or not depends on the Ministry of Sports.
Every year, the department issues a certificate of compliance with the law, for the purpose of transferring public resources. It would therefore look into the topic in 2025, but this analysis can be brought forward if there is a complaint or statement from the Public Ministry.
“Even the Federal Supreme Court, analyzing electoral cases [de confederações]has already consolidated jurisprudence on the subject, attesting that the ‘exercise of holding the position takes place through election or succession'”, says the NGO Atletas pelo Brasil.
“The current president of the COB puts the entire system, which should protect and develop, at risk of collapse, as it is a fact that this is a third term”, adds the entity.
THE Sheet also questioned Ana Paula Terra, COB’s legal manager between 2001 and 2020 and member of the commission that prepared the draft of the General Sports Law, but without specifically mentioning the case of Paulo Wanderley, just mentioning the need to account, or not, for mandates -buffer.
“Yes, any exercise of function by elected members must be considered. Even those who hold a buffer mandate enjoy the prerogatives and limitations that are linked to the position. The possible impact would be the suspension of financial transfers”, he states.
