 A frantic final three days of lobbying has begun as delegates including Bermuda Olympic Association President Judy Simons arrive for a crunch week of Pan American Sports Organisation (PASO) meetings culminating in a Presidential election on Wednesday (April 26th).
The election will see one of Chile's Neven Ilic, Brazil's Carlos Nuzman or Dominican Republic's José Joaquín Puello replace current President Julio Maglione, who is not standing.
Elections for all other Executive Committee positions will also take place.
Proceedings are due to begin tomorrow with more arrivals as well as a final meeting of the current Executive Committee before the first day of the General Assembly on Tuesday (April 25th).
Preparations for the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima are expected to be a leading item on the agenda.
Concerns over the Games appear to have reduced after last week's announcement that experts from the United Kingdom would work towards delivering the event following an agreement between British and Peruvian Governments.
There are still several issues which need to be addressed, however, including the role played by Peruvian Olympic Committee President and PASO Executive Committee member Jose Quiñones.
He has been banned by Peru's sports court from holding any public post for five years because of alleged irregularities in accounts he controlled, but insists he has done nothing wrong and is the victim of a politically-driven attack.
The 2023 Pan American Games will also be discussed after the withdrawal of Argentinian capital Buenos Aires last week left Santiago in Chile as the only surviving candidate.
Maglione told insidethegames, however, that they still currently expect to hold an election in September at which Santiago would be rubber stamped rather than finalise matters this week.
Another issue due to be discussed tomorrow concerns the Executive Committee nominations from the Group 1 region consisting of North and Central American members.
Mexican Olympic Committee President Carlos Padilla and El Salvador Olympic Committee counterpart Eduardo Palomo Pacas are facing opposition from United States Olympic Committee chief executive Scott Blackmun and Haiti Olympic Committee secretary general Alain Jean-Pierre.
There are three positions available as well as a vacant vice-president's position for which Padilla and Palomo Pacas are also standing.
But under PASO statutes there must be a female representative for every section.
It is therefore possible that nominations from the floor will be sought, or only two positions will be voted upon this week.
There is no doubt, however, that the Presidential election is dominating the agenda before the most unpredictable ballot for an Olympic continental association head in generations.
|
