ATR First - Czech NOC Chief Rejects Anonymous Letter

(ATR) Czech NOC president Jiri Kejval tells Around the Rings that he rejects the contents of an anonymous letter sent to IOC President Thomas Bach. The letter scuttled plans for his election to the IOC at the Lima Session two weeks ago.

While the letter remains under wraps, Kejval indicates that the contents involve accusations of financial improprieties of former Czech Olympic Committee officials.

"The Czech NOC is not directly involved in the case," says Kejval. He says any implications of wrongdoing on his part are "unfounded".

Kejval travelled to Lima earlier in the month with expectations of becoming one of nine new IOC members. But he withdrew his nomination and left before the vote. He returned to Prague to face the questions raised in the letter to the IOC President.

Kejval has said the level of English written in the letter was poor and although he has ideas regarding the identity of the sender, he says it would not benefit anyone for him to reveal his suspicions.

Kejval confirmed that the Czech Olympic Committee is cooperating with authorities in the prosecution of the head of the Czech Football Association, Miroslav Pelta, and other high-ranking officials.

Pelta, along with a prominent Czech politician, the head of the Czech Union of Sport and a deputy minister of education, were detained during raids in early May.

"The Czech NOC is deemed an injured party in this case and is cooperating fully with all parties," Kejval said. "However, there is little it can do from the outside to ensure a swift and satisfactory conclusion to the case."

"The current position of the Czech NOC is clear now, and it will not be directly affectedby any court case that follows," Kejval said.

"It’s a very unfortunate situation - from a legal perspective the case is not really related to sport," Kejval said. "It involves a few individuals and the internal processes of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport.

"However, the impact on sport is serious with payments being postponed.

"This year we expected a budget 30 percent higher than last year, but in the end we will be happy if sport receives the same as last year."

Kejval said that appropriate measures are being taken to resolve the situation in the best interest of the Czech NOC and Czech sport.

"Despite the difficult situation, every cloud has a silver lining and we must hope that the result will be a more transparent system for the allocation of funds, particularly from the perspective of recipients," he said.

"We are working on this task together with Czech sport federations and the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport."

The 49-year-old former rower, was re-elected for a second term as head of the Czech NOC in October 2016. He says he is confident his nomination to the IOC will proceed at the Session to be held in PyeongChang next February, ahead of the 2018 Winter Olympics. Kejval was nominated for a seat as an individual member which would allow him to serve until age 70, regardless of his status as NOC president.

There has not been an IOC member from the Czech Republic since javelin great Jan Zelezny served from 2004 to 2012 as a member of the IOC Athletes Commission.

Kejval and the NOC play host to the annual general assembly of the Association of National Olympic Committees in November. The controversy involving the NOC and Czech sport is not expected to affect the meeting of the world’s 206 NOCs.

Written and reported in Prague by Brian Pinelli.