Swiss Court Clears Volleyball Leaders

(ATR) International Volleyball Federation president Ruben Acosta and associates have been acquitted of charges of falsifying FIVB financial records and that Acosta concealed income he received from the federation.

The not-guilty verdicts were handed down by a Lausanne court on Wednesday following two days of testimony last week. The charges were brought by Mario Goijman, the former head of the Argentine Volleyball Federation. Goijman fell out with Acosta following the 2002 World Championships in Argentina over financial issues that escalated into Goijman's 2003 expulsion by FIVB from any volleyball-related posts.

Since then, Goijman has been seeking charges against Acosta and other FIVB leaders, including a complaint to the IOC Ethics Commission, which was dismissed in 2004 when Acosta resigned from his IOC membership.

In a statement following the verdict, the FIVB says the court's decision "is all the more appreciable, since it has been issued by the Swiss legal system, the reputation of which Mr. Goijman's attorney himself praised during the hearing."

The FIVB then goes on to question Goijman's motives for the charges he made against Acosta.

"The only possible explanation for Mario Goijman's claims is an intention to gloss over the fact that he was expelled from the FIVB in 2003 for signing contracts without authorisation and for not submitting regular accounts for the organisation of the 2002 Men's World Championships.

"His expulsion was upheld by the highest institutions of the FIVB. The alleged scandal referred to by the Argentinean Mario Goijman in his declarations to the mass media had no serious foundation, a fact that FIVB President Ruben Acosta has never ceased to affirm. Today justice proves him right," says the FIVB.

While Goijman's case against Acosta appears to have hit a dead end, an unlikely ally will seek to topple Acosta in this year's election for FIVB officers. Immediately after the verdict, Jean-Pierre Seppey, former secretary general of the FIVB, declared his intention to run for the FIVB presidency.

Seppey, who a year ago considered Goijman an enemy to the interests of volleyball, is now on the Argentinian's side.

Seppey was dismissed from the FIVB last year after Acosta accused the secretary general of spending money without authorization. Seppey has since filed a civil suit seeking damages and other compensation for wrongful termination.

The FIVB elections are in October on the eve of the world championships in Japan.

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