Carlos Nuzman was Friday re-elected head of the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB) despite charges that he was to blame for a scandal involving the unauthorized downloads of files belonging to organizers of the 2012 London Olympics.
COB president for the past 17 years, and current head of the organizing committee of the 2016 Rio Olympics, the 70-year-old Nuzman garnered 30 yes votes and one against in a secret vote in which he was running unopposed.
Voting were the leaders of the 30 Brazilian Olympic confederations and some COB members.
Two electors did not show up, including Jose Maria Marin, president of the Brazilian Football Confederation.
Voting against was Eric Leme Maleson, president of the Brazilian Ice Sports Federation.
Joao Havelange, the 96-year-old former head of world football governing body FIFA, came to COB headquarters to lend his support to Nuzman.
Nuzman began his sporting career as a volleyball player at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. In 1975, he was named president of the Brazilian volleyball confederation.
He became COB chief in 1995 and has been member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) since 2000.
At the COB, he has been instrumental in securing sponsors' backing for Olympic sports. Nuzman also helped Brazil win the right to stage thr Pan-American Games (Rio in 2007) and the 2016 summer Olympics.
Wednesday, Brazilian football great Romario, now a socialist lawmaker, expressed concern that Nuzman might be re-elected as COB chief as he was the only candidate.
Last week, the former FC Barcelona striker and 1994 World Cup winner blamed Nuzman for the Olympic scandal in which 10 Brazilians made unauthorized downloads of files belonging to organizers of the London Games.
"The guilty party in such cases never surfaces but we know very well the COB president is to blame," Romario said in a message posted on his official website, describing the affair as "shameful".
Brazilian sports analyst Juca Kfouri meanwhile called the incident "the first scandal of the 2016 Rio Olympics".
Nuzman dismissed Romario's charges, saying the latter "had no knowledge of the case".
He also read out a statement sent by Paul Deighton, head of the organizing committee of the London Olympics, playing down the affair.
But Romario has also called for a probe of the COB over allegedly questionable sales for Rio's summer Games in 2016.
The footballer turned lawmaker pointed the finger at Nuzman and demanded an audit of its accounts and the source of public funds it is given.
