Per Mexican news outlet El Universal, Mexican Sports Commissioner Ernesto D’Alessio is accusing the Mexican Swimming Federation of receiving millions of pesos in public funds without any oversight or transparency over its spending.
D’Alessio is accusing the Mexican Swimming Federation’s current administration under Kiril Todorov of a lack of transparency in public funding. D’Alessio claims that such funding could reach 14 million pesos (approximately 731,416 United States dollars).
Additionally, D’Alessio sent out a tweet in which he attached a transparency request he had issued to Mexico’s Swimming Federation.
https://twitter.com/Ernestodalessio/status/1187911647916122112?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1187911647916122112&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.eluniversal.com.mx%2Funiversal-deportes%2Fmas-deportes%2Fdalessio-insiste-en-que-fmn-transparente-cuentas-tengo-mas-pruebas
The tweet reads as follows:
“Mexico’s Swimming Federation, whose legal representative is Kiril Todorov, has received more public funding than the National Sports Commission. In case they tell athletes they are lacking funds. This must be investigated.”
The request also displays an explanation as to where the expenses took place. D’Alessio sent a second tweet:
Y tengo más, oh si, muchísimo más. Apenas es la punta de un IceBerg. Basta de corrupción. pic.twitter.com/iYeplU92nZ
— Ernesto D’Alessio (@Ernestodalessio) October 26, 2019
The tweet reads as follows:
“And I’ve got more, oh yes, much more. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Stop corruption.”
By sending out those tweets, D’Alessio would have reportedly violated a penalty that would prevent him from mentioning the Mexican Swimming Federation on Twitter, per Mexican news outlet milenio.com.
According to that same report, Todorov would have reportedly accused D’Alessio of harassment and attacking the Federation through the media. D’Alessio also accused Todorov of corruption, gender abuse, embezzlement, and qualified the Mexican Swimming Federation head as persona non grata due to Todorov’s Bulgarian origins.
The Mexican federation has run into several major controversies under Todorov’s administration, including falsifying entry times for the 2015 World Championships, a suspension by FINA for withdrawing from its hosting duties at the 2017 World Championships, and the replacement of the country’s entire technical staff earlier this year after late-2018 disputes.
Resulting from the series of disagreements, Mexico faced a ban from both this year’s Gwangju World Championships, which took place last July in the Korean city of Gwangju, as well as the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
The controversy came after Mexican Federal Sports Commissioner Ernesto D’Alessio tried to intervene in the selection criteria posted by the Mexican Swimming Federation. D’Alessio questioned the selection criteria for the diving events set to take place in Gwangju.
In response, FINA issued a statement asking for both parties to reach a mutual agreement.
Days after, President of Mexico’s Swimming Federation Kiril Todorov urged D’Alessio to not involve Mexican athletes in politics.
Consequently, D’Alessio sent out a Tweet asking Todorov ‘to quit making videos and get to work.’ Commissioner D’Alessio also posted several Twitter updates accusing Todorov of corruption.
Earlier in September, we reported that Mexico could face a penalty over the swim caps used by the country during the Lima 2019 Panamerican Games.
Most recently, we informed that Todorov accused the federation’s vice-president Rodolfo Zarco Rodriguez in light of an aggression which allegedly occurred during the “Torneo Interclubes Casablanca de Natación” championship meet in the Mexican region of Puebla. Such aggression would have taken place last Oct. 5.
Scarcely one month before that incident, Mexican news outetproceso.com.mx leaked a list of properties owned by the Todorov family, and how that list does not match with the low income that the family has historically had.
The Mexican Swimming Federation is now in a race against time to prove themselves compliant with the Mexican Sports Commission and Olympic Committee in light of next year’s Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games.
