For the first time since 1988, Brazil‘s national swimming federation (CBDA) will hold presidential elections. Three candidates have announced their platforms and running mates for the upcoming election– each candidates background and platform is detailed below.
Read more, in Portuguese, at Blog do Coach.
Jefferson Borges: New Directions
Presidential candidate Jefferson Borges is running alongside Marcelo Falcao under the New Directions platform. Jefferson currently serves as president of the Mato Grosso do Sul Aquatic Federation. In addition, Borges and Falcao are both FINA referrees.
Their platform, titled “New directions”, stands for completely cutting ties with the previous CBDA board of directors.
Miguel Cagnoni: Innovation and Transparency
Miguel Carlos Cagnoni will be running for President under the Innovation and Transparency platform. Cagnoni has been in charge of the Paulista Aquatic Federation for 22 years. Luiz Coelho will run alongside Cagnoni– he currently serves as director of the Pernambucana Aquatic Federation.
Their platform brings radical proposals to the current management format of the CBDA. It’s ideas have been online for months and are attributed to accusations that led to the arrest of four CBDA executives. The candidates have received support from Brazil‘s top athletes, including Olympians Etiene Medeiros, Poliana Okimoto and Cesar Cielo.
Cyro Delgado: New Face
Cyro Marques Delgado and Racardo Barbosa are running under the New Face platform. Delgado was an Olympic bronze medalist in the 4×200 free relay in Moscow 1980; he is also a member of Brazil‘s National Commission of Athletes. Vice President candidate, Ricardo Luis Barbosa de Lima, is a journalist and elected State Representative.
Delgado is a controversial candidate because of his ties with former CBDA leadership. Despite allegations, Delgado has denied any association with the former CBDA board. Delgado stated that, if elected, he intends to join forces with athletes from the five water sports and create development opportunities for clubs and federations.
Elections are being held as a result of allegations of fraud and corruption within CBDA leadership. Former CBDA president Coaracy Nunes was removed from his post last fall after serving as head of the federation for 28 years.
Amidst these accusations, the CBDA was ordered to annul its athletes commission and the General Assembly meeting was cancelled. Ultimately elections were rescheduled and are set to take place on June 9th in Rio de Janeiro.