Track Olympic Medalist Frankie Fredericks Steps Down From IOC Commission During Rio Bribery Investigation

Photo Courtesy: Wikipedia

Frankie Fredericks, a three-time Olympic medalist in track for Namibia and, until now, a commission chair with the International Olympic Committee, has come under fire in recent weeks amid allegations that he accepted a bribe from a Brazilian businessman right around the time the 2016 Olympics were awarded to Rio.

Currently under investigation, Fredericks has resigned from roles with both the IOC and IAAF (International Athletics Federation), according to a report from BusinessDay.

Fredericks has been in charge of a commission that monitored the cities involved in the bidding for the 2024 Olympic Games (since Rome and Budapest have pulled out, this currently includes only Paris and Los Angeles), and had served on an IAAF task force seeking to help Russia be compliant with anti-doping standards after the country was suspended after the release of the McLaren Report.

Fredericks denies the allegations of bribery but said he believed it to be in the best interests of the IOC if he step down.

“I personally decided that it is in the best interests of a good functioning of the International Olympic Committee candidature process that I step aside as chairperson of the 2024 evaluation commission, because it is essential that the important work my colleagues are doing is seen as being carried out in a truthful and fair manner,” he said, according to BusinessDay.

“I categorically deny any direct or indirect involvement in any untoward conduct and confirm that I have never breached any law, regulation or rule of ethics in respect of any IOC election process.”

The IOC then released a statement praising Fredericks’s decision to step down. Said the IOC Executive Board in a statement:

In line with the recommendation of the IOC Ethics Commission, the IOC EB accepts his resignation from the Evaluation Commission for the Olympic Games 2024.
In line with the recommendation of the IOC Ethics Commission, the IOC EB accepts his provisional self-suspension from the IOC Coordination Commission for the Youth Olympic Games Buenos Aires 2018.
The IOC EB accepts Mr Fredericks’ non-participation in the Candidate City Briefing 2024 for IOC Members and Summer Olympic International Federations in July 2017 in Lausanne and the IOC Session in Lima, Peru, in September 2017.
In line with the IOC Ethics Commission, the IOC EB recalls the importance of respecting the principle of the presumption of innocence. It also notes Mr Fredericks’ categorical rejection of the allegations made against him.

Additionally, the IOC announced that taking over the commission will be Patrick Baumann, the Secretary General of FIBA, the International Basketball Federation.

Fredericks received about $300,000 from Pamodzi Sports Consulting in 2009, shortly before the IOC announced Rio as the host for the 2016 Games, shortly after a Brazilian businessman paid $2 million between two separate payments to Papa Massata Diack, Pamodzi’s owner.

Read more from Business Day here, and find the full IOC statement here.

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