(ATR) The minister in charge of the 2014 Brazilian World Cup will not be at the helm for the 2016 Olympics.
Brazil President Dilma Rousseff announced her new cabinet on Dec. 23, appointing George Hilton to Minister of Sport.
Hilton, a member of the council of deputies for the Brazilian Republican Party (PRB), has no background in sport.
Brazilian media reported the appointment was made by Rousseff as a reward for the party’s success in running the ministry of fisheries.
Former sports minister Aldo Rebelo will now serve as minister for science and technology.
Rebelo, a member of the Brazilian Communist Party, had been sports minister since October 2011 and was tasked with leading Brazil through preparations for the World Cup and Olympics.
A change in sports ministers ahead of the upcoming Olympics is not uncommon for host cities.
Hilton hails from the Minas Gerais state of Brazil and has served in the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies since 2007.For his 2007 to 2011 term, Hilton was a member of the Progressive Party before running with the Brazilian Republican Party in 2011.
Along with service in politics, Hilton is a minister who hosts radio and television shows. His television program plays on Rede Record in Juiz de Fora in the Minas Gerais state. Rede Record owns the broadcast rights for the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.
In 2005, Hilton was caught by federal police with 11 cardboard boxes filled with $255,000 in cash and checks at Pampulha Airport in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
According to media reports in O Globo and Folha, Hilton was traveling with fellow pastor Carlos Henrique Silva, a Liberal Party deputy from Belo Horizonte, who claimed the money came from donations to the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God in Minas Gerais.
Neither man was charged with any crime from the incident, but Wilson was kicked out of the Liberal Front Party as a result of the incident.
According to an official, translated, statement reported by O Globo, PRB spokesperson Glênio Rocha said "[Hilton] wants to be technical and understand sport."
"A good manager does not need to be in the area, he only needs experienced people to advise him. And you have no doubt he is seeking the best."
Written by Aaron Bauer
20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.
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