European Aquatics issued a press release on Thursday announcing that no action will be taken against President Antonio Silva after his integrity was put into question.
Both European Aquatics and World Aquatics received a letter on Jan. 3 from Alexandra Jorge, the former secretary of the Portuguese Federation General Assembly, who “wanted to draw your attention to situations taking place in Portugal” and said that they should “analyze these situations in light of the code of ethics and transparency”.
According to The Inquisitor, Silva was being questioned on “why he registered intellectual property rights to a federation water-safety scheme and brand in his own name and on suggestions of nepotism in connection with contracts handed to service providers at both the Portuguese and European federations and positions and privileges granted to close associates of those in leading roles in Europe.”
Jorge had previously sent the letter to Portugal’s Institute for Sport and Youth, and when he was made aware, Silva informed the World Aquatics Integrity United and “supplied them with all relevant documentation.”
On Nov. 10, he was informed that the Integrity Unit would be taking no further action.
The European Aquatics Bureau then held a meeting on Wednesday (Jan. 10), with the organization’s Legal Commission also involved after reviewing the letter from Jorge and the documents from Silva.
The Legal Commission said that the information offered by Jorge “did not justify any doubts about the integrity of Mr. Silva as European Aquatics president or candidate for the European Aquatics presidency” and thus there was no reason to present a case to the Panel.
The Bureau unanimously agreed with the Legal Commission’s recommendation and opted to take no action, though Silva has sent Jorge’s letter and all of his documentation to the World Aquatics Integrity Unit regardless, European Aquatics said.
“European Aquatics believes that Ms. Jorge’s letter has been carefully dealt with according to European Aquatics rules and that the information presented by her does not justify doubts about the integrity of Antonio da Silva either as European Aquatics president or as a candidate for the presidency.”
Silva is up for re-election later this month, with the European Aquatics Congress scheduled for Jan. 27 in Athens. Notably, European Aquatics’ new Integrity Code won’t come into effect until the Integrity Unit is elected at the Congress as well.
We live in an unfortunate world where many of the Continental aquatics presidents are involved in dubious behavior. However, none can top the corruption of World Aquatics President Husain Al-Musallam.