Puello Pushes for Caribbean Leadership in PASO

(ATR) Former Dominican Republic Olympic Committee president Jose Puello confirms to Around the Rings he is withdrawing from the presidential race for the Pan American Sports Organization.

Puello says he is withdrawing due to complications from a back surgery that makes it difficult for him to travel. He is currently undergoing physical therapy and expects a full recovery in a matter of months.

Puello is one of three candidates from the Caribbean who previously announced their campaigns including IOC member Richard Peterkin of St. Lucia and PASO vice president Keith Joseph of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Puello says he will fully support either of the candidates now that he has left the race.

"I am more than convinced that the next PASO President must come from the Caribbean with the support of Central America and perhaps two or three from South America," Puello tells ATR.

"PASO needs to reform from top to bottom and from the geopolitical viewpoint is to have a President from one of the small NOCs," he says. "That will be a good sign for everybody."

The Caribbean candidates will be squaring off against president of the Chilean Olympic Committee Neven Ilic. Ilic announced his candidacy in February and is the youngest candidate to enter the race at the age of 53. Each is vying to secede interim president Julio Maglione who took over the helm of PASO when former president Mario Vasquez Rana died in May 2015.

Although considered in some circles to be a favorite to win the election, Rio 2016 president Carlos Nuzman has yet to officially declare his candidacy.

"At the moment there is no decision from Nuzman about [running for president]," a spokesperson for the Brazilian Olympic Committee tells ATR.

According to the PASO statutes, each candidate must have 90 days to campaign prior to the election. However, PASO must first finalize its revisions to the constitution at the ANOC General Assembly taking place in Doha, Qatar this November. This means the earliest the election could take place is in mid-February 2017, according to Peterkin.

"According to the Statutes, the Elections for the Executive Committee should be held in the year following the Pan American Games, so the Elections should have been held no later than December 31, 2016," Peterkin tells ATR. "This is most unfortunate. It is a breach of our Statutes that will require approval at the EGM, and it could have been averted."

The process to amend the constitution began at the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games while the changes were not approved by the PASO members until an extraordinary assembly that took place in Brasilia, Brazil in May 2016. Now that the IOC has officially approved the revisions, save a few wording changes to provide further clarity, Peterkin expects unanimous approval in Doha.

"Any further changes required will result in even further delays to the date of Elections, and the comments received from the IOC on the amendments are not material," he says. "The whole process of amending the Statutes has not been as efficient as it could have been, and I believe that the new President will have to address some of this unfinished business at a later date."

Although the statutes are helping modernize the organization, Peterkin says more work needs to be done in the areas of communication, management and transparency.

"We just need the agreement of our members to a shared vision for change and growth that will make the 2017-2020 quadrennial the era of the Americas," Peterkin says. "In the longer run, we need to reduce our continental differences based on language and geography, and build a unity of vision and purpose, sharing our resources and leaving no NOC behind."

Ilic could not be reached for comment regarding his vision for the future of PASO while Joseph circulated his campaign proposals during the extraordinary assembly in Brasilia.

"I believe it is critical that PASO establishes a chief executive officer role at the Secretariat responsible to the PASO Executive Committee, who drives the day-to-day affairs of the organisation under the approved policy framework and the interest of the PASO members," Joseph writes.

The potential election in late February 2017 will allow interim president Maglione to focus on his final term as president of the International Aquatics Federation.

Reported by Kevin Nutley

Forgeneral comments or questions, click here.

20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about theOlympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribersonly.