Alexei Vlasenko, head of Russia’s water polo, diving and synchronised swimming federations and a member of the Russian Olympic Committee‘s executive board, has been arrested over suspected fraud.
Vlasenko, who is also chairman of the FINA diving technical committee and a member of the LEN bureau, faces 10 years in prison if found guilty of large-scale fraud.
“The court granted the investigators’ petition for a measure of restraint in the form of detention,” Moscow’s Basmanny Court said.
“Vlasenko is under arrest until May 16.”
Photo Courtesy: FINA
The arrest comes four months before the delayed Olympics in Tokyo are due to start on 23 July where athletes from Russia will compete under the acronym ROC without their flag and anthem as part of sanctions for several doping scandals.
However, that followed the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s decision to halve the four-year suspension from major sporting events announced by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in December 2019.
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