Joao Havelange will not take part in International Olympic Committee voting session
It has been recently revealed that Joao Havelange, a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) but famously known for being the former Federation Internationale de Football Association’s (FIFA) president, will not be a part of the voting session for the 2018 Winter Olympics that is scheduled to take place in Durban, South Africa on the 6th of July.
Havelange has made the announcement while the IOC’s Ethics Commission is getting started to probe into the allegations made against him at the end of last year about being on the receiving end of a bribe that comprised of $1 million.
The allegations against the 95-year-old Brazilian have not yet been proven. These allegations came to light in a programme of the British Broadcasting Corporation that was aired in November 2010. According to the programme, Havelange has taken a bribe worth $1 million from International Sport and Leisure, which was the marketing partner of FIFA.
Sergio Martins, who is the spokesperson of the former FIFA president, stated that Havelange will not be attending the voting that is to take place next week because of an illness of a close family member. Havelange wishes to be present in Brazil while the family member undergoes treatment.
Having stated the reason for Havelange’s expected absence from the voting, Martins went on to say that Havelange is not guilty of the allegations that have been made against him and that "Havelange has not been notified of any investigation [by the IOC]."
Despite the fact that the IOC has launched an investigation into the allegations, FIFA has not yet taken any steps to prove or disprove what has been said about its long time former president.
The Olympic governing body made the following statement on the issue: "The ethics commission launched its inquiry before Christmas last year, after the first BBC Panorama programme went on air. The commission has received supporting documents from the BBC and is now in the process of verifying the authenticity of the material that has been gathered so far.”
Havelange has been the president of FIFA for a period of 24 years.
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