Warned in a pre-vote speech by World Aquatics president Husain Al-Musallam about the “need for Europe to be united,” the 52 member nations of European Aquatics unanimously elected every one of its leaders on Saturday in Athens — including president Antonio Silva, who is engulfed in controversy back home in Portugal.
The Portuguese Swimming Federation (FPN) has until next month to plan Silva’s dismissal as head of the national governing body, or else the entire organization could be shut down by the Portuguese Institute of Sports and Youth (IPDJ). In the meantime, he has declared himself “self-suspended” from his duties at FPN.
The Portuguese government instructed the FPN to oust Silva after a five-month investigation revealed he transferred the intellectual property rights of a water-safety project in his own name to the FPN. Portugal’s Jan. 16 ethics judgement came less than a week after European Aquatics opted to take no action against Silva because the information offered by whistleblower Alexandra Jorge, the former secretary of the FPN’s General Assembly, “did not justify any doubts about the integrity of Mr. Silva as European Aquatics president or candidate for the European Aquatics presidency.”
Along with his roles at European Aquatics and FPN, Silva also serves as vice president at World Aquatics under Al-Musallam.
The global Aquatics Integrity Unit reportedly put Silva on a “watch” notice earlier this week, opting not to take “further action” on the matter but reserving the right to review again should new evidence come forward.
Victor Pataco, head of Portugal’s IPDJ, disputed Silva’s claim that his European Aquatics presidential campaign had government support. The IPDJ has removed leaders for integrity issues in the past, most recently in 2022 with Portugal’s judo federation.
Silva was first elected president of European Aquatics (then LEN) back in February of 2022 with 96% of the vote among 50 federations. The previous European Aquatics president, Paolo Barelli, was also accused of financial misconduct in 2020 before Silva replaced him. Barelli says he’s back at the helm in Italy, making Saturday’s unanimous vote even more surprising. However, Silva was the only candidate on the ballot.
Who knew Europeans love to elect a corrupt person as a leader.
I feel like that statement applies to almost every country worldwide
True. But Europeans consist of many countries that scored among the lowest in corruption index.
2022 Corruption Perceptions Index: Explore the… – Transparency.org says exactly the contrary: 8 European countries in the top 10 with New Zealand and Singapore
😂 and America, the beacon of integrity 😂😂