Groundhog Day in World Triathlon: "collusion, pressure and coercion to manipulate" the presidential election

María de la Soledad Casado Estupiñán wants to make her general secretary Antonio Fernández Arimany president of World Triathlon. Casado has been president since 2008 and is only the second head of this young Olympic federation after the late Canadian Les McDonald (1989-2008). In 2010, Casado was appointed an ex officio member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in her capacity as Triathlon president (at that time it was still called the International Triathlon Union/ITU). Casado will now lose her IOC membership. However, Spain is of course speculating that if the plan succeeds on Monday 21st October, Arimany will also become an IOC member in near future.

The takeover of power within international federations (IF), Olympic and Non-Olympic, even between fellow countrymen, is often an inglorious and sometimes highly dubious tradition. In Olympic history, general secretaries have often become federation presidents. In the current case, the election congress is even taking place in Spain, in Torremolinos, where the World Triathlon Championship Finals ended today.

Perhaps the most spectacular case of a secretary general becoming an IF president occurred in 1998, when Joseph Blatter was elected FIFA president and successor to the totally corrupt João Havelange – in an election that is forever overshadowed by vote buying. What hardly anyone remembers is that the opposition around Blatter's challenger Lennart Johansson managed to force Blatter out as general secretary a few weeks before the election. They claimed Blatter had abused his power in the administration for his election campaign.

This is exactly what World Triathlon is about in October 2024.

The accusation that Antonio Arimany, backed by Marisol Casado, has been abusing his position for months and using it for his election campaign is not just an open question – it has partially substantiated.

On 7 August this year, World Triathlon announced the names of eight candidates for president: Debbie Alexander (South Africa), Michelle Cooper (Australia), Antonio Alvarez (Mexico), Mads Freund (Denmark), Ian Howard (Great Britain), Shin Otsuka (Japan), Tamas Toth (Hungary) and, as mentioned, Antonio Arimany, the loyal and sometimes rather strange-acting servant of Marisol Casado.

On the weekend before the election, for somewhat dubious reasons, there were only five candidates left. Two of the officials – Alvarez and Otsuka – withdrew their candidacy at the meeting of Europe Triathlon in Vichy a few weeks ago, wanting to become vice presidents and directly urging other delegates to vote for Antonio Arimany.

In the meantime, the so-called Credentials Committee has ruled in the cases of Alvarez and Otsuka, finding that both officials have violated the Elections Rules.

Both vice president were publicly reprimanded.

In both cases, the conclusions were identical:

Case 1:

The Credentials Committee concludes that Mr. Antonio Alvarez breached the article 11 of the Election Rules and Procedure in its presentation in Vichy.

Therefore, the Credentials Committee issues by this decision an official public warning to Mr. Antonio Alvarez. While Mr. Alvarez withdrew from the election for the presidency, he remains candidate for the vice-presidency. 

Case 2:

The Credentials Committee concludes that Mr. Shin Otsuka breached the article 11 of the Election Rules and Procedure in its presentation in Vichy.

Therefore, the Credentials Committee issues by this decision an official public warning to Mr. Shin Otsuka. While Mr. Otsuka withdrew from the election for the presidency, he remains candidate for the vice-presidency.

These two amusing rulings were made on 10 October.

However, this has no consequences: both can easily become vice presidents for a further four-year term on Monday.

A week later, on 17 October, Mads Freund was also given a warning – at the intervention of the Spanish federation. Which suggests that Freund's candidacy is particularly feared.

The ridiculous decision against Freund on a LinkedIn publication, announced by Jo-Annie Charbonneau, Chair of the Credentials Committee:

Facts of the complaint: On September 30, 2024, the Candidate, Mads Freund, posted on his LinkedIn Page and shared on his profile a video where he was answering to the following questions: “What is your opinion on the incident at the ETU GA in Vichy, France?”. In the answer recorded, allegations were made against other candidates to the presidency of World Triathlon. These allegations were never proven by the Credentials Committee, nor the World Triathlon Tribunal.
…
The Credentials Committee concludes that Mr. Mads Freund breached the article 16.3, 16.10 and 16.12 of the Election Rules and Procedure by publishing the video on his LinkedIn Page and Profile.

Therefore, the Credentials Committee issues by this decision an official public warning to Mr. Mads Freund. The Credentials Committee wants to reinforce the rules apply to all candidates and must abide by the principles of equality and mutual respect, avoiding personal attacks, misinformation or harming the reputation or image of another candidate or World Triathlon. an atmosphere of mutual respect must prevail throughout the campaigns.

Back to the cases of collusion:

Requests for official investigations to be opened against Alvarez, Otsuka et. al were rejected. It is strange to find violations on the one hand, but on the other hand to continue everything in the sense of the World Triathlon rulers Casado and Arimany. But maybe it's not strange, but rather a systemic issue.

The appeal to the IOC

These and other events were outlined in a written appeal to the IOC by three of Arimany's presidential challengers on 10 October 2024. The email was sent to IOC president Thomas Bach, sports director Kit McConnell and ethics secretary Pâquerette Girard Zappelli.

Michelle Cooper, Ian Howard and Tamas Toth – all members of the executive board – wrote, among other things: