by Rod Hughes

Does anyone remember the controversy late last year that hit the National Olympics Committee, with charges flying against its chairman, Jorge Nery Carvajal? Well, the committee’s special assembly used a new broom and swept him out, along with other top officials yesterday as the Pekin Olympics looms on the horizon..

The unrest emerged after a dismal showing in Caribbean games last year by the Costa Rican contingent and was heightened by charges of mismanagement leveled by various sports officials against Carvajal, along with dark hints of funds manipulation. The latter refused to resign. But the general assembly, representing 26 federations of various sports plus five individuals, voted 31-0 to replace him with Henry Nunez.

The revolution did not end there. Out went secretary general Adrian Peterson and the assemby refused to recognise the appointments of Ronald Rojas and Melvin Lobo as, respectively, treasurer and fiscal, the latter post a Latin creation to oversee the legality of decisions. The last two were dismissed not for what they did but for the way they were appointed, by Carvajal and Pearson without confirmation by any other officials.

In fact, the newspaper La Nacion reported that their appointments were kept hidden from the federations, the press and public for four months. To replace them, three Executive Committee members were transfered to fill the vacancies. In a miracle of efficiency in talkative Costa Rican administration, voting took exactly six minutes, reported the paper. The Carvajal faction of the NOC tried to stiffle the special session by appealing to the Supreme Court’s Constitutional Chamber (Sala IV) but that body rejected the appeal.