Alin Petrache, the President of the Romanian Olympic Committee (COSR) has announced in a release posted on the institution’s website he will resign after the end of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
According to ProSport, his decision is rather a showcase move, as his mandate is coming to an end after the Rio Olympics.
“After the Olympic Games we will analyse in the General Assembly the athletes’ training and the results, our responsibilities within COSR and of the federations, as well as those of the sport clubs. (…) I will hand my mandate and I will ask the Vice-president and the members of the Executive Committee to do the same,” Petrache wrote.
Referring to the poor quality of some of the sportswear for Romanian athletes, Alin Petrache wrote: “I apologise on my behalf and on COSR’s behalf to the athletes and to the public opinion. When I return home (from Rio – our note) we will conduct an internal investigation to find out who is responsible for this situation and what measures are to be taken. All those guilty will be held responsible. COSR will hand over to state institutions the information required to solve the case.”
Police officers from the Directorate for Investigation of Economic Crime seized documents last Friday from the Romanian Olympic Committee (COSR) and have conducted searches at the company that supplied sportswear to the Romanian athletes competing at the Olympic Games in Rio, who have complained that it was counterfeit and of poor quality.
IGPR informed in a press release that the first searches have revealed that the company allegedly concluded and implemented contractual relationships with contracting authorities in the field of sport, supplying sportswear suspected of being counterfeit.
At Rio Olympics, Romania has had, so far, its poorest performance in 50 years, winning only one gold medal, one silver and two bronze.