SWITZERLAND: Former sprinter Frankie Fredericks quit on Tuesday as head of the IOC commission monitoring candidates for the 2024 Olympics amid a probe into money he accepted from a sports marketing chief accused of corruption.
Fredericks strongly denied any wrongdoing in accepting nearly $300,000 (283,000 euros) around the day that Rio de Janeiro was awarded the 2016 Olympics.
But he added in a statement: "Nonetheless I have personally decided that it is in the best interests of a good functioning of the International Olympic Committee Candidature process that I step aside as chairperson of the 2024 Evaluation Commission, because it is essential that the important work my colleagues are doing is seen as being carried out in a truthful and fair manner."
The Namibian athletics great went on: "I do not wish to become a distraction from this great contest."