This morning, as European delegates, encouraged by a speech from World Aquatics president Husain Al-Musallam, ignored all the red flags of integrity inquiries to put António Silva back on the continental regulator's throne, Victor Pataco, the head of the Portuguese Institute of Sports and Youth (IPDJ) hit back at a week of scatter-gun statements from Silva with a damning statement of his own.
A week that included an interim judgement from a Aquatics Integrity Unit (AQIU) that expressed its doubt about the relevance of an argument over how Silva financed his 2022 campaign to become European Aquatics president at an extraordinary congress, has now ended with the boss of Portugal's leading sports authority suggesting Silva has fallen shy of the truth in public statements.
Victor Pataco told A Bola, Portugal's leading newspaper in relation to a hugely long four-part interview with Silva in the past week (and specifically parts 1, 2 and 4) …
… on the reputation of the institute …
"The IPDJ repudiates and condemns the statements made by the president of the Portuguese Swimming Federation (FPN) regarding the Institute's supervisory function. The IPDJ is the public institute with the greatest responsibilities in the area of sport and the independent work carried out is publicly recognised, without external interference and much less persecutory conduct from its president."
… on the process of an integrity investigation …
