The issue of the decision of the former Board of the COA for the salary promotion of the former athlete and member of the Board of the Organization with a parallel posting to the CIO, dominated today's meeting of the Audit Committee of the Parliament, which discussed the Report of the Audit Service for the Cyprus Olympic Committee for the year 2018.
The report, it was reported, revealed an irregular promotion from the E5 scale to A8, which also means a big salary upgrade, the existence of a possible criminal case as a possible date falsification was found in some letters exchanged, as well as a possible favourable treatment with political criteria of the former athlete in question.
The President of the COC George Chrysostomou said initially that the new Executive Board of the Commission has been elected by promoting transparency and good governance as well as the values of Olympism. He said they have informed the Audit Committee of the actions to comply with the recommendations of the Audit Office for the year 2018.
[/P]He said despite the mud that the Committee has been subjected to, any problems, bad faith criticism, misinformation that has been made, the CIO is moving forward in a straightforward manner, promoting only concern for all athletes, sport and society. On the specific issue with the former athlete, the CIO gave a confidential letter to the President of the CIO on June 28, 2021, in which it states in detail the findings and which led to the CIO's decision to cancel the athlete's posting to the Commission.
"We dare to make difficult, correct decisions, within the framework of transparency, good administration, but at the same time within the framework of the principles and values of Olympism despite any problems we face and may face," he said.
In response to a question, he said that the main reasons for the annulment of the decision to post the athlete to the CIO are listed in 13 points included in the letter to Mr. Michaelides. He noted that the specific correspondence had been given, after being requested, to the Audit Committee.
Asked to comment on the suggestion of the President of the Committee, Zacharias Koulias, about the involvement of the Police in the case, Mr. Chrysostomou expressed the assessment that there are probably responsibilities in the management of the matter and there may be criminal responsibilities, as well as misappropriation of public money.
The President of the CMO Andreas Michaelides in his own statements made it clear that they have nothing to hide or fear from any investigation, something they have clearly stated before the Audit Committee.
Referring to the specific issue with the athlete, Michaelides, stressing parenthetically that she is an athlete with a great past, said that the COA was informed by the CIO of the reasons for terminating her posting. From there he said that the CIO did its own investigation and made its own decisions, while he was in constant communication with the President of the CIO without meaning that they agreed on all actions.
As he said, it is up to the Audit Office and possibly the Police if they are involved, to do their investigation and draw their conclusions. He said the CIO proceeded with the decision of the Board of Directors to post this former athlete to another major Federation so as to put an end to this story. If the Audit Office or the Police demand any investigation, the COA is an open book and has nothing to hide. He stressed that he has close cooperation with the COE because this is what sport requires.
In response to another question, Michaelides said that the decision to post to the COE was taken by the previous COA Board and therefore he cannot judge it. "We are not sticking our tail out but we don't know exactly how some decisions were taken by the previous Board," he said.
DISY MP Rita Theodorou Superman, in her statements said regarding the posting of the former athlete to the CIO, that the action of the said athlete was beneficial to the Commission as she "ran" the Adopt an Athlete on the Road to Tokyo 2020 programme, which generated about 550 thousand euros to support Cypriot athletes.
Superman said that during the debate she raised the question several times whether the posting was illegal without getting a clear answer. It is a shame to deal with this person, who has contributed to the Republic of Cyprus and to sport. Now if there was any irregularity, it is positive that the current Executive Council is putting itself under scrutiny and talked about clear procedures and transparency," she said.
In a statement, AKEL MP Irini Charalambidou said that today they witnessed a new version of Olympic ideals, the "Cypriot" one. She said that the CIO today has scored from the dressing room because it fully subscribed to the Auditor General's report, noting that the bad practices, the political transactions that we see more widely, we now see them in sport
Charalambidou said that it is unthinkable that an athlete, a member of the Board of Directors of the COA, just before the end of her term of office, should leave the room of the Board meeting for the Council to take a decision to upgrade her from the E5 to A8 scale. "It is unthinkable that a person who is so closely associated with DISY, for which she was also a candidate in Famagusta province, should receive such favorable treatment as a reward for her loyalty to the ruling party," she said.
He said that the former and current CTO President, who has before him since last June a letter from the CTO detailing the findings of its investigation based on the Auditor General's report, should explain the matter. "The bad practices of favouritism, lack of transparency must be stopped, all venues have been contaminated. How dare we talk about Olympic spirit," he asked.
DIKO MP Chrysis Pantelides noted the will and actions of the new leadership of the CTO to comply with the recommendations of the Audit Office and expressed hope that in the future there will be no need for the examination of CTO issues by the Audit Committee.
However, in relation to the Report under consideration, Pantelidis said, we note that once again we witnessed a privileged employment and general treatment of a person, a former athlete, who has a long-standing connection with DISY. "The employment and general treatment of this person raises many questions on which we will await further information, both from the Audit Office and other relevant agencies of the state."
Source: CNA
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