IOC Ethics Chief issues thinly veiled warning to World Sailing in leaked email

Kim Andersen at the meeting of World Sailing's Council at the 2019 Mid-Year Meeting in London, Great Britain on Sunday 19 May, 2019 © Daniel Smith

Respected sports journalist Liam Morgan writing for the reputable InsidetheGames.biz claims, based on a leaked email, that the head of the IOC Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer has raised concerns regarding two of the candidates in the World Sailing Presidential election, warning the (World Sailing Elections) committee overseeing the upcoming vote that the allegations against them are potentially damaging to the organisation.

In comments relayed in an email from IOC vice-president Ng Ser Miang to the World Sailing Election Committee and attributed to Pâquerette Girard Zappelli, the IOC chief ethics and compliance officer claimed the committee should provide a "full disclosure of the personal situations" of incumbent Kim Andersen and vice-president Scott Perry to members who are due to cast their vote in the election.

The email, seen by insidethegames, refers directly to three World Sailing Ethics Commission cases involving Andersen and the fact Perry is banned from entering the United States.

The potentially crucial intervention from the IOC comes prior to the start of voting in the four-way Presidential tussle, which also includes Spaniard Gerardo Seeliger and Chinese vice-president Quanhai Li, on Friday (October 9).

Uruguayan Perry has admitted he cannot enter the US but claims he does not know the full reasons why and that his legal team are trying to find out.

Zappelli warned Perry's status in the US "might be difficult to manage pragmatically for the International Federation [World Sailing] as the American athletes are an important team and numerous competitions are organised in the US, including the upcoming [2028] Olympic Games in Los Angeles" if he is elected.

Andersen, elected President of the International Federation in 2016, had been issued with a warning by the World Sailing Ethics Commission for "abusing" the signatures of two of its vice-presidents Perry and Gary Jobson. (S-WNZ: A third case is yet to be determined by the WS Ethics Committee)

The Dane hit back and criticised the conduct of the Ethics Commission, arguing the appointment of Andorra's Josep Pla, President of the European Sailing Federation, as ethics officer was "clearly not independent or impartial".

For the full story from insidethegames.biz click here.