Carlos Nuzman's Olympic future was already in jeopardy. Its future is now full of dark clouds. The former president of the Rio 2016 Games and the Brazilian Olympic Committee was formally accused by his country's justice system of corruption, money laundering, tax evasion and gangsterism.
The information was made official on Wednesday October 18 by the Rio de Janeiro prosecutors' office in charge of the investigation. Five other people have been formally charged with corruption in connection with Rio's awarding of the 2016 Summer Games: former Rio state governor Sergio Cabral; Carlos Nuzman's former right-hand man on the 2016 Games organizing committee and director of operations, Leonardo Gryner; Brazilian businessman Arthur Soares, presented as a middleman in the alleged vote buying; Lamine Diack, the former president of the IAAF; and finally his son, Papa Massata Diack.
According to the indictment, Carlos Nuzman and Sergio Cabral “directly requested” from Arthur Soares the payment of $2 million to Papa Massata Diack, “to secure votes for the Rio election.”
According to the Brazilian prosecution, Carlos Nuzman and his two acolytes, Leonardo Gryner and Sergio Cabral, met Lamine Diack in August 2009, in Berlin, during the World Athletics Championships, a few weeks before the IOC vote for the host city of the Games. of 2016. The Senegalese leader, then president of the IAAF and active member of the IOC, allegedly suggested that they do business with his son, Papa Massata, for the payment of bribes.
Among all these beautiful people, only Carlos Nuzman and Sergio Cabral are currently sleeping in a Brazilian prison. Arrested last week, the first was detained for a period of 5 days, before seeing his lease behind bars extended for an indefinite period. The second is currently serving a 15-year prison sentence. Lamine Diack is under house arrest in France. His son, Papa Massata, found refuge in Senegal. He was placed by Interpol on its most wanted list. Arthur Soares is on the run. As for Leonardo Gryner, arrested at the same time as Carlos Nuzman, he was released.
