Post-Nuzman Purge for Brazil Olympic Committee

(ATR) Agberto Guimarães, a key figure from the Rio 2016 Olympics, is out at the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB).

Guimarães joined the COB after Rio 2016 as the Executive Director for Sports. He held a similar position at Rio 2016.

The departure of Guimarães was done "in common agreement, and following the restructuring undertaken by the new management," according to a release from the COB. Guimarães served as sports director for the 2016 Olympics.

Guimarães’ departure is the third such Nuzman ally to leave the COB.

Secretary General Sérgio Lobo and Augusto Heleno, an army general in charge of the COB’s department and communications and corporate education, also have left the committee.

Newspaper Folha reports the moves arepart of a larger effort by newly elected COB President Paulo Wanderley to remove allies of Carlos Nuzman in the committee. Nearly two months ago the IOC suspended the Brazilian committee as a result of the scandal engulfing Nuzman, who was also suspended from the honorary IOC membership conferred after retiring in 2012.

Nuzman served as COB President from 1995 until his arrest in Rio de Janeiro earlier this year. Brazilian and French investigators worked together to arrest Nuzman on corruption charges related to the buying of votes IOC votes to win the contest to host the 2016 Olympics.

Guimarães served as the COB delegate to the Association of National Olympic Committee General Assembly in Prague, Czech Republic. Brazil was only allowed to attend the meeting after the IOC Executive Board lifted part of the suspension of the committee.

In Prague Guimarães told Around the Rings that the "[COB] was going through changes for the better," as part of ongoing reforms.

"[Paulo] has started his mandate by embracing changes, which is something the whole community of Brazil asked," Guimarães said. "The other thing he is doing is to promote changes in a way that the national federations will be more efficient in spending the funds that come from the federal government."

Reforms in the COB remain ongoing with media reports in Brazil saying leadership promises a new set of statues to be presented by the end of the year. The Brazilian Ministry of Sports said today that Wanderley and the COB signed new terms of conduct to enforce "more transparency to the application of public resources, ensuring more democratic management, with greater participation of athletes."

The terms include presentations by the COB to government officials, disclosure of management salaries, "decentralization of resources" in accordance with national auditors, and presentations of good governance procedures to be adopted by the sport confederations. In addition, the COB will only be allowed to distribute public funds from the "Piva Law," upon approval from the National Sports Council.

"The COB is on the right track to consolidate the Olympic sport in Brazil," Wanderley said in a statement from the Ministry of Sports. "We will meet all the needs to comply according to the demands of the legal and administrative areas."

Written by Aaron Bauer

25 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.