COE president is accused of secretly negotiating with pro-independence leaders, including Artur Mas, and does not rule out going to court over “false and biased” information
Three days after the Spanish Olympic Committee (COE) finally buried Catalonia’s and Aragón’s joint Olympic candidacy for the 2030 Winter Games, its president, Alejandro Blanco, denied having negotiated secretly with pro-independence leaders, including Artur More, and he asked 400,000 euros. of the Generalitat to allegedly execute “opaque contracts,” according to a Civil Guard report collected by “El Confidencial.” “Before publishing the false and tendentious statements, which seek to discredit the COE and me as its chairman, I reserve the right, for the COE and for myself, to demand the clarifications, corrections and compensations required by law including by judicial authorities,” the head of the Spanish Olympic Committee announced in a statement after he was accused of irregular behavior.
“At no time did the Spanish Olympic Committee or myself receive or apply for any grant or any amount for the steps taken for the above candidacy; On the contrary, these efforts have resulted in costs borne by the COE, borne by its own private funds,” says Alejandro Blanco, who, “for more abundance”, also wrote a statement made this Friday by the person who Secretary of Sport of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Gerard Figueras.
«The COE has never asked for one euro from the Generalitat. Not one. Also, while I was in charge of the Secretariat General of Sport, the Generalitat did not transfer a single euro to the COE. The 400,000 euros that appear in the science fiction published in this communication medium (“El Confidencial”) refer to the amount that we noted from the Generalitat that we could try to budget for 2020, in case it goes to the Tokyo 2020 Games to promote the candidacy, something that never happened,” said Gerard Figueras, the current Secretary of Foreign Action of the Generalitat, who was arrested and charged with alleged crimes of misappropriation of public funds, influence and exploitation.
As evidenced by ‘El Confidencial’, in the context of the investigation into the alleged massive public funds to the independence movement, the Guardia Civil now points to the “opaque” nature of the money invested in the Olympic candidacy, “it can therefore, embezzlement of public funds cannot be ruled out.The President of the Government of Aragon, Javier Lambán, also announced on Friday that he does not rule out going to court in the face of the “clear manipulations” of the Spanish candidacy by political confrontations is frustrated. “We know it is a crime,” Lambán stated, referring to the videos leaked by the COE of the meetings between the technicians of Catalonia and Aragon and which are considered to be manipulated. “Catalonia acted as the sole owner of the candidacy and reserved for Aragon a role of mere companionship,” lamented the socialist leader.
According to ‘El Confidencial’, at a meeting on November 7, 2019 in Vilanova i la Geltrú between Alejandro Blanco and senior officials of the Generalitat, the president of the COE assured that he had the approval of both King Felipe VI and the president of the then government, Pedro Sanchez. The COE chairman argued that the central government deemed it appropriate to launch the Olympic effort to calm the situation in Catalonia. This medium assures that Alejandro Blanco stated that although the central government would “cover a large part of the costs”, the payment of 400,000 euros was necessary, which was accepted by the leaders of the Generalitat because they estimate that the 2030 Games will be a boost to secessionism “Not a damn thing for Zaragoza”, Gerard Figueras is said to have said during that meeting.
“In the process of preparing and developing the 2030 Winter Olympics, I held public and private meetings with political leaders, social, business and trade union agents, both from Catalonia and Aragon, to expand as much of the base as possible. support for the candidacy,” recalls Alejandro Blanco, who was accused by Javier Lambán of being “an ally of independence”. “Alejandro Blanco has always insisted on equal terms, although he never spoke of it in Catalonia. It is clear that they wanted an exclusive Olympics, leaving Aragón as a comparsa,” the president of Aragón emphasized.
Source: La Verdad
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