Brazil Olympic committee boss, Carlos Arthur Nuzman has resigned following alleged bribes to win Rio de Janeiro the hosting right of the 2016 Summer Games.
Nuzman, 75, disclosed last weekend that he was leaving his post temporarily. But reversed his decision on Wednesday in a letter to the committee that he would want to focus on his legal defence and would not be returning to his post.
He was arrested a week ago in Rio de Janeiro as part of a probe into allegations he helped buy votes from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to secure Rio’s hosting of the 2016 Games.
Brazilian federal prosecutors have said Nuzman paid almost $2.5 million in bribes to win votes for Rio de Janeiro as host for the Games.
Nuzman is also suspected to have facilitated a $2m payment made by a top Brazilian businessman, Arthur César de Menezes Soares Filho, nicknamed King Arthur, into the account of Papa Massata Diack 48hours before Rio won the right to stage the Games.
Massata Diack is the son of the disgraced former IOC member Lamine Diack. It is believed Diack voted for Rio to host the Summer Games at an IOC session in Copenhagen in 2009 in exchange for the money.
Nuzman has been held in prison since his arrest. He denies any wrong doing.
