ATR First: Peru Olympic Committee in 'Extremely Delicate' Situation

(ATR) PanamSports president Neven Ilic tells Around the Rings that the new leaders of the Peruvian Olympic Committee are working to recover from the transgressions of its previous administration.

Ilic tells ATR the situation the COP is now faced with is "extremely delicate".

"I think the COP is facing a very difficult moment in the history of Peruvian Olympic sport with debts that are difficult to manage and control," Ilic said in an exclusive interview.

COP elections were held in June under the observation of Jimena Saldana on behalf of PanamSports and the IOC. There were concerns about the internal struggles of the COP that were sharpened by government sanctions against its leaders who were accused of corruption, charges which they have denied.

Speaking to ATR, new COP president Pedro del Rosario said he has found "a chaotic situation" with bank accounts and office furniture being sequestered while workers have not been paid for eight months.

"The continental sports leadership has to know that there is a ‘before and after’ in the COP," del Rosario said.

He says he does not expect those who have been removed from the direction of the NOC to try to reclaim their positions in the future.

"I hope not, because as in life, everything has its moment, this is a passing theme, painful for the COP and for Peruvian Olympics. We have reached a group of leaders of the highest level with the aim of bringing it to life," he added.

Del Rosario said that it was necessary to restore the relationship between the COP and the Peruvian Institute of Sport, "which has already begun, not fully, but we are at least talking".

He announced that he is now waiting for a meeting with the minister of education to convey to him that "we have the best intentions of doing things in due form." The education minister also oversees the country’s sporting programs.

No date has been set for that meeting due to the national teachers' strike currently occupying the full attention of the minister.

The president of the COP said he is also negotiating a visit with Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, "so that he knows firsthand that there are new people, ready to work for the good of the Peruvian Olympic movement."

Written by Miguel Hernandez and translated by Kevin Nutley.

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