LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – Olympic gold medalists Sergei Bubka and Alexander Popov have denied claims made in a Brazilian court they were paid to vote for Rio de Janeiro’s winning bid to host the 2016 Summer Games.
The International Olympic Committee said Friday its ethics commission has contacted both men about the allegation by Sergio Cabral, the former Rio state governor who is serving a prison sentence for corruption.
Cabral’s testimony Thursday echoed details of an alleged Olympic vote-buying scheme in 2009 already in the public domain.
Ongoing criminal investigations in Brazil and France have implicated Brazil’s former top Olympic official Carlos Nuzman, then-IAAF president Lamine Diack and his son, and then-IOC executive board member Frank Fredericks .
