Miguel Cagnoni, the president of Brazil’s swimming federation (the CBDA), has announced his resignation, citing his wife’s health. Cagnoni was facing a General Assembly vote for his removal this week.
Brazil’s Globo.com published Cagnoni’s full letter of resignation, which you can see in its original Portuguese here. Cagnoni cites “serious health problems” with his wife as reason for his resignation.
Per an earlier report from Globo.com, Cagnoni was facing a hearing today about his own removal from the post. State federations had called for a General Assembly to vote on the removal, and had requested a FINA observer for the meeting, which would give the removal legal backing.
Cagnoni is under fire for a lack of transparency and financial mis-management, per Globo.com. The CBDA owes about $1.6 million to the Brazilian Olympic Committee, the product of the CBDA’s failure to properly document travel expenses. The Brazilian aquatics federation already owed the Olympic Committee about $6 million from the previous administration, which was removed under allegations of fraud.
Per Globo.com, it’s not clear yet whether the CBDA will follow through with its official removal of Cagnoni. The decision will have major impacts on the organization’s leadership, even with Cagnoni’s resignation. On Friday, Cagnoni gave his full powers to former Olympic medalist Ricardo Prado. But if the General Assembly does remove Cagnoni, then vice president Luiz Fernando Coelho de Oliveira would take office instead, serving until the end of his term in 2021.
Just Brazil being Brazil….