Three top officials of Kenya’s Olympic committee have been arrested in Nairobi as investigators dig into a series of scandals and embarrassments at the Rio Games, police sources said.
Francis Paul, secretary-general of the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOCK), was arrested on Friday, one of the police sources said on condition of anonymity.
His deputy James Chacha and Stephen Arap Soi, who headed the Kenyan delegation to Rio, were both arrested at Nairobi airport as they returned from the Brazil Games, he added.
The arrests are “part of the investigation into the Rio scandal, and the poor management of the team for the entirety of the Games,” he said.
Another police source said the men are being held at a police station in northeastern Nairobi, and that they are due to be charged tomorrow for their chaotic management and alleged theft of official sports gear.
The Kenyan government on Aug. 18 ordered a probe into the allegations.
The officials’ embarrassing performance had a direct impact on the Kenyan athletes — who nonetheless clocked up their best Olympics yet with 13 medals, including six golds, putting them in 15th place overall, the best in Africa by far.
Kenyan Cabinet Secretary for Sports, Culture and the Arts Hassan Wario on Thursday announced the disbanding of the Kenyan Olympic committee after the allegations surfaced.
However, Paul, who is now in custody, claimed that Wario did not have the legal competence to disband the NOCK, which is overseen by the International Olympic Committee, not the Kenyan government.
Wario himself has faced calls for resignation, and on Wednesday he too was questioned in connection with the probe.
Kenya’s Olympic team captain, marathon runner and elected lawmaker Wesley Korir, welcomed the NOCK officials’ arrest.
“Someone should pay the price,” he said, as he called on Wario to resign. “If you are the head of an organization and you do not even know what is going on, my friend you are supposed to go home.”
PASSPORTS RETURNED
Reuters, RIO DE JANEIRO
A Rio de Janeiro court will return the passports of three members of the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) and they will be allowed to leave Brazil, a source in the Rio state security services said on Friday.
The passports were seized by Brazilian police, along with computers, mobile phones and unused tickets as part of an investigation into allegations of an illegal Olympics ticketing scam.
OCI treasurer Kevin Kilty, secretary-general Dermot Henihan and executive director Stephen Martin have collaborated with the police in the investigation and would be able to return to Ireland, said the source, who asked not to be named because he is not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
“There is no longer the necessity to keep them here,” the source said.
Pat Hickey, former head of Ireland’s Olympic council, is still being held in a Rio prison complex.
Police allege Hickey is implicated in a scam involving Ireland’s official Games ticket reseller, Dublin-based PRO10 Sports Management, and an international sports hospitality company, THG Sports.
They accuse PRO10 of funneling tickets to THG Sports, which sold them illegally at inflated prices.
The pressure was already on Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso before their 2-1 defeat to Manchester City on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League raised further questions about his future. Arsenal remain perfect in this season’s competition and three points clear at the top of the standings after a 3-0 win against Club Brugge, while defending champions Paris Saint-Germain were held 0-0 at Athletic Bilbao. The clash between Madrid and City was the standout game of the round amid reports this week that Alonso had lost control of the locker room. Speculation over his position is likely to intensify after the latest
‘HIGH STANDARD’: The Thunder are on track for a Finals-Cup double after they scored 22 three-pointers in equaling the best 25-game start to a season in NBA history The Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday bagged a 16th straight victory, thrashing the Phoenix Suns 138-89 to romp into an NBA Cup semi-final clash with the San Antonio Spurs, who stunned the Los Angeles Lakers 132-119. NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points to lead the reigning NBA champions Thunder, who improved to 24-1 to equal the best 25-game start to a season in league history. They dominated from start to finish to book their place in the final four of the in-season tournament in Las Vegas, where they are tomorrow to take on the Spurs. The New York Knicks and
TOP OF THE TABLE: Evann Guessand put the visitors ahead early in the game and Flavius Daniliuc equalized before Youri Tielemans got the winner in the second half Aston Villa on Thursday extended their winning streak to eight games in all competitions with a 2-1 victory against Basel in the UEFA Europa League to secure at least a playoff spot. Villa were tied with Olympique Lyonnais, who beat Go Ahead Eagles 2-1, and Midtjylland, 1-0 winners over Genk, atop the standings of the second-tier European competition on 15 points with five wins from six games. They have bounced back from a poor start to the season and are third in the Premier League, including a 2-1 victory over leaders Arsenal on Saturday. At St Jakob-Park in Basel, summer signing Evann Guessand
Italian Luca de Aliprandini described Saturday’s World Cup giant slalom at Val d’Isere as the hardest race of his life, coming two days after his Swiss partner Michelle Gisin suffered a heavy fall in training which required neck surgery. De Aliprandini finished 26th in the men’s event won by Loic Meillard, but the result paled into insignificance with two-time Olympic ski champion Gisin in hospital with injuries to her wrist, knee and cervical spine (neck). “It was Michelle’s wish that I race here. I couldn’t say no to her, but it was the toughest race of my entire life,” an emotional De
RSS