Richard Carrion Resigns from IOC Finance Commission Role

Richard Carrion, one of the five candidates that lost out to Thomas Bach for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) presidency, has resigned from his role as Chairman of the Finance Commission of the IOC.

The Puerto Rican banking executive quit from a number of positions from the IOC, including as chairman of the finance commission, a position he has held from 2002. 

Carrion also resigned as the IOC’s negotiator of television rights deals outside Europe, but has agreed to remain in that role until the Feb. 7-23 Winter Games in Sochi in order to ”assist in the transition process” under new IOC President Thomas Bach.

The announcement follows Bach’s election on Sept. 10 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Bach received 49 votes in the second round to secure a winning majority, while Carrion finished second in the six-man field with 29 votes.

According to Asssociated Press, IOC spokesman Mark Adams said Carrion sent a letter to Bach a few days after the election.

”In his letter, I understand he said that he believed a new president needed to have the latitude to set priorities and select the team to carry them out,” Adams told The Associated Press. ”He made it clear he was happy to help with any transition and that he would continue with TV negotiations in the meantime.”

Carrion has been a member of the IOC since 1990. He was elected as a member of the Executive Committee in 2004. Hew will remain an IOC member but will also leave his position as chairman of the audit committee and member of the coordination commission for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

In the run-up to the 2010 and 2012 Olympic Games Carrión led negotiations for the Games’ U.S. broadcast, earning the Committee $2 billion in revenue.

Singapore’s Ng Ser Miang, who also lost out to Thomas Bach, will chair the next meeting of the finance commission in December.

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