A trip of more than 10 million pesos which never took place, but which the Corporation nevertheless renounced, triggered the alarm of the authorities. Following the incident, the chief executive and chief financial officer, who also served on the Olympic Committee, resigned.
In October last year, the first alerts were issued to a situation which now threatens to have serious consequences. In a letter sent to Undersecretary of Sports Antonia Illanes by Roberto Rodríguez, president of the disaffiliated National Federation of Hockey and Skating Sports, he knew about a trip to Barcelona that never happened , but this in the same way was submitted by the National High Performance Corporation (ADO Chile) to the National Institute of Sport. A fact that today takes on other dimensions.
The trip in question had a value of $10,379,100, corresponding to tickets for athletes Jesús Rojas, María José Rojas, Josefina Tapia and Marcelo Jiménez, coaches Alejandra Varas and Mauricio Rodríguez, and leader Armando Quintanilla. The project was registered under the name “International Skate Concentrate Catalonia Spain” and the resources were released by the budget law, allocated by the IND. The company in charge of these services was Mundo Tour, the main agency of the Chilean Olympic Committee, the body in charge of the ADO.
The tour did not take place due to the complex situation the planet was going through at that time due to the pandemic. SO, the athletes did not travel and the project was not carried out. However, it was still submitted and approved. Given this, the matter escalated and reached the Chamber of Deputies and Deputies, which officiated with the authorities on the seriousness of the complaint. In turn, Undersecretary Illanes asked IND Director Israel Castro on October 21 to gather all background information on the case.
The situation led to the blocking of resources by the IND towards ADO , since the refund of the unused money was demanded, which finally took place and made it possible to put an end to the monitoring process which weighed on the company. Similarly, an internal summary was initiated to determine responsibilities. SO, The case passed through the Eastern Metropolitan Area High Complexity Prosecutor’s Office, which opened an investigation for embezzlement of public funds.
Indeed, on April 6 Deputy Prosecutor Álvaro Pérez Galleguillos has established a deadline of 40 days for the National Institute of Sport to make available the budget items of the ADO Chile , information on the delivery and periodicity of resources, quotas paid periodically; the execution of inspections and monitoring relating to the sums remitted to the company and a copy of the respective renderings of accounts. All this from the date of incorporation of the National High Performance Corporation until today.
Consulted in this way, ADO responds with a press release. “ This is a situation absolutely beyond our control and our powers. On February 15, 2021, the assignment was submitted to the IND, as is done for hundreds of projects each year. This surrender was accepted by the IND ten days later. However, with a difference of more than 24 months, and despite the fact that the project was submitted and accepted correctly, the return of funds was requested. This amount has already been refunded, all that happened was an internal problem of the IND, and that’s how we inform him in the official document which mentions this reimbursement”, he explains.
And he adds: “This trip did not take place since the athletes were not authorized by the Superior Sports Council of Spain to enter this country, all this in the context of the coronavirus pandemic. The Ministry of Sports informed us of this decision only 24 hours before the trip, so the tickets were already purchased, subject to non-refund”.
The controversial role of Bermúdez
In the midst of this scandal, Michael Kanaan and Antonio Bermúdez, respectively general manager and financial manager of the Olympic Committee and ADO Chile, have submitted their resignations. However, the terms and reasons had not been specified. Even, the national director of the IND himself officiated Miguel Ángel Mujica, president of the Chilean Olympic Committee, to provide information on the departure of the two officials, which to date had not taken place.
Deportivo have accepted the official letter sent on March 3, via the Transparency Law. In this, four conditions are required: the circumstances in which the resignation occurs, the date of presentation, the authority or service before which it was presented and the procedure applied for its processing; retail if ADO Chile Corporation has entered into an indemnification or reparation agreement with any of these persons , associated with their respective resignations. Understand by such, allowances, compensation of any kind, reimbursement or similar ; indicate whether there is additional information associated with the aforementioned resignations, of which the National Institute of Sport of Chile should be aware, in its capacity as main partner of the ADO Chile Corporation; And indicate whether any of the resigning parties have been the subject of any charges, complaints or lawsuits (whether closed or ongoing) related to harassment or abuse of any kind, in the past 12 months.
This last point has to do with the conduct of Antonio Bermúdez. In 2018, a project analyst and coordinator of Team Chile partners reported him for sexual harassment to the Labor Directorate. The case ended with the official outside the COCh and with ADO paying over 10 million pesos to end the trial early.
But, in addition, the suspicions of the IND on the conduct of Bermúdez They rely on the recent case of an official who also had problems with the now ex-manager and it was only after his departure that she resumed her duties with the Olympic Committee. This is confirmed by ADO: “Although there are circumstances in which we cannot go further in order to protect the private information of those involved, indeed, in recent months, there has been a workplace harassment complaint and its subsequent investigation as stipulated in our protocol, and the results of which have been shared with the Labor Department”.
Regarding the payment of compensation, ADO recalls that “There were no compensation agreements” Explain why “both resigned for professional and personal reasons” . On another side, The Olympic Committee confirms that Marcelo Ubal, former secretary of the Olympic Plan, and who was dismissed after an indictment for various mistreatments, works in the building on Ramón Cruz Street. “Since August 2021, he has provided technical adviser services to the General Management of the COCh”, they ratify.
Meanwhile, the High Complexity Prosecutor’s Office continues to investigate and is expected to start new proceedings in the coming days.
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Source: Latercera
I am David Jack and I have been working in the news industry for over 10 years. As an experienced journalist, I specialize in covering sports news with a focus on golf. My articles have been published by some of the most respected publications in the world including The New York Times and Sports Illustrated.
