ANOC Fields Questions on Hickey Loan

(ATR) The Association of National Olympic Committees approved an audit on its finances, but not without questions about the loan given to former ANOC vice president Patrick Hickey for his bail in Brazil.

ANOC’s annual audit appeared to show that the $460,000 loan given to Hickey on "humanitarian" grounds was not included in "total receivables and other current assets," although Hickey’s trial in Brazil remains ongoing. The loan was used for Hickey’s bail in exchange for the return of his passport. Hickey sought travel to Ireland on medical grounds, before a judge granted his release.

The trial is expected to resume at the end of this month, although Hickey may be permitted to testify via video link to avoid traveling back to Brazil. The funds from ANOC remain in a bank account tied to the Brazilian court system accruing interest, where it will stay until Hickey’s trial concludes. The fate of the money will depend on the outcome of the trial, meaning the status of the loan remains unresolved.

St. Lucia NOC Secretary General Alfred Emmanuel pressed leadership to answer if the ANOC loan was written off in the audit. ANOC’s auditor said that without "documented proof of financial standing" from Hickey it was impossible to audit the feasibility of the repayment of the loan. An allowance for the funds was made, the auditor said, but not "written off" by ANOC.

Hickey’s loan appeared on the auditor’s balance sheet, but was not counted in the totals at the bottom of the section of the document. This decision prompted the question from Emmanuel, who said the payment’s presentation did not appear like a loan. The assembly deserved a full explanation as to where the money was coming from or going, Emmanuel said.

Such allowances are common in Swiss law, Around the Rings learned for loans that are yet to be repaid, and can be made initially. That does not mean the loan is written off, and the accounting would be corrected after a decision must be taken regarding the loan. However, ANOC finance commission chair Richard Peterkin made no mention of the allowance during his presentation. He did confirm eventually the accounting practice, and that there was no collateral for the loan, given its exceptional circumstance.

"ANOC is not in the position of giving loans, we know that, and this is a rare and hopefully one-off situation that may never occur again," Peterkin, said in response to the question. "If all works out according to plan that money may be refundable, so it is not written off and the question of whether it will be is unknown.

"So we have no idea at this stage how long [the case] will go on and what the end result will be. So the prudent decision was taken in respect to the audits to make an allowance for that and payment charge for that, but it is certainly not an indication of an intention made at the start when the loan was given."

Written by Aaron Bauer

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