Croatian Olympic official resigns after arrest in ski federation graft case

A Croatian Olympic Committee official arrested over alleged corruption has resigned, the committee said Friday, in the latest fallout from a graft scandal at the country’s ski federation.

Damir Segota, director of the committee’s Olympic programme, and his wife were arrested on Thursday, their lawyers confirmed. The pair were questioned and Segota’s wife was released.

Segota was remanded in one-month detention on Friday over concerns that he could influence witnesses.

The case is linked to an investigation involving former alpine ski director Vedran Pavlek, who is being held in Kazakhstan while investigators seek his extradition. Prosecutors have alleged that Pavlek led a scheme that siphoned off nearly 30 million euros, or about $35 million, from the national ski federation.

Searches were carried out in the Olympic Committee offices of Segota and secretary general Sinisa Krajac. The committee said earlier that investigators questioned Krajac as a witness and that no criminal proceedings had been launched against him.

The committee announced Segota’s resignation in a statement, saying individual cases should not overshadow athletes, coaches, sports workers and national sports federations that contribute to Croatian sport.

Prosecutors launched an investigation in March into six people, including Pavlek, who was later arrested in Kazakhstan. On Friday, prosecutors said they had expanded the investigation to include allegations of bribery and money laundering and had added Segota as another suspect.

According to prosecutors, Pavlek, described as the prime suspect in the case, allegedly bribed Segota to unlawfully favour the ski federation. Prosecutors alleged that the federation’s funding was then increased by more than two million euros.

Segota is suspected of receiving at least 160,000 euros in cash bribes through an intermediary, as well as nearly 10,000 euros for his son’s scholarship. Prosecutors said he tried to hide the alleged illegal gains by buying investment gold.

The scandal has already led to the resignation of long-time Olympic Committee head Zlatko Matesa.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic told reporters Friday that the matter must be fully cleared up and said it was clear that some individuals had abused their positions within the sports system.

Pavlek’s tenure covered Croatia’s most successful period in skiing, when Janica and Ivica Kostelic won 10 Olympic medals. The source said Croatia, a country of 3.8 million people, has had notable sporting successes, including Olympic gold medallists and football World Cup finalists, while the Kostelic siblings’ skiing achievements were a particular source of national pride because the country has little domestic ski infrastructure.