President of the Dominica Olympic Committee (DOC), Felix Wilson, has denied any wrongdoing following a scathing letter from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) accusing the organization of a breach of the IOC’s code of conduct, lack of transparency and good governance.
The letter was written by Director General of the IOC, Christophe De Kepper, to Wilson.
But in an interview with DNO, Wilson denied the claims.
“We did absolutely nothing wrong,” he stated.
According to the letter, it was brought to the attention of the IOC by the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee that “the National Olympic Committee of Dominica (DOM) did not respect the terms and conditions of the Ticket Sales Agreement and was in breach of IOC Codes of Conduct.”
The letter states such a breach is unacceptable and constitutes a serious warning which will be taken into consideration in the future. It went on to say that matter has highlighted a lack of transparency at the DOM.
“In such context, the IOC urges the DOM to improve its model of management and governance in order to be compliant with the principles of the Olympic Charter,” De Kepper wrote.
The letter, which surfaced in the public domain, on Tuesday, has aroused great interest and discussion in Dominica. Many took to social media and the airwaves, saying there is corruption in the DOC.
In response, Wilson said the letter from the IOC made it sound as if tickets were sold to the Rio Games on the behalf of the DOC, but he said that is not the case.
“Absolutely no tickets were sold by the DOC for the Rio 2016 Games,” he stated. “Nobody sold tickets on the behalf of the DOC.”
He explained that before an Olympic event, the DOC, like all Olympic Committees around the world, signs an agreement for ticket sales which could go two ways.
“You could have what is called an ATR, agent ticket re-seller, to act on your behalf,” he stated.
He said such ATR would sell tickets on the behalf of Dominica and they would give the DOC royalties.
“We had nominated, more than a year ago, a company called World Sports Hospitality,” Wilson stated. “We were informed by the Organizing Committee that permission was not granted to that company to be an ATR. So we reverted to the second option, which is you, as an Olympic Committee, sells tickets to Dominicans.”
But Wilson said the second option did not work out because the DOC did not have the capital outlay.
“We duly informed the Organizing Committee that we haven’t got the capacity, which involves the money, we also made mention that the small population cannot rally enough persons to go to the Rio Olympics and on top of that the Zika is a deterrent,” he noted.
He remarked that the DOC told the Organizing Committee that it will not be selling tickets to the Rio Games.
“We got a response that it is okay from the Organizing Committee that you are no longer obligated to sell tickets or you will no longer be selling tickets, which is what transpired,” he stated.
Wilson said he received a letter from the IOC while he was in Rio, accusing the DOC of not adhering to the ticketing agreement.
“Using my cell phone, I responded to them that this is not the case, that is we were removed from the agreement, we were not allowed to take on the sale of tickets by the Organizing Committee and I even quoted the person who is responsible for the National Olympic Committees of the region, that is a Mr. Nicholas Robinson,” he stated. “He was the coordinator, I quoted him and copied my response to him via email on my phone.”
He added, “I also informed the IOC, and all who the letter was written to, that this was not an official response, I would have to get to the executive of the DOC, we will discuss their letter and respond officially on the letter head of the Olympic Committee.”
When questioned about the basis of the IOC’s letter since the DOC had pulled out of the ticketing agreement, Wilson said the IOC and the Organizing Committee are two separate entities and probably the IOC was not aware of what transpired.
“The Organizing Committee of Rio is responsible for the Olympic Games that took place in Rio till the 21 of August, they are the ones that we will correspond with in terms of things,” he explained. “The IOC yes is observing and the IOC was of the belief that there was a signed agreement but probably was not aware that we were allowed to move out of the agreement.”
To drive home his point, Wilson said the DOC had already received US$3,500 in royalties from World Sports Hospitality, which was initially contacted to represent the DOC, but the money was returned.
“The royalties that they were offering the company who was selling on our behalf was US$10,000. We had received to date, US$3,500 and we sent the monies back to it . We did not sell one ticket, so where is the corruption?” Wilson stated.
He is also convinced that the letter from the IOC was leaked to the public from within the ranks of the DOC, adding that he is aware of the culprit, “but I will hold my peace.”
See the letter below.
so allyou dunno wilson then? Whether he is right or wrong, He is right!(or so he thinks)
my my Dominicans are here on DNO castigating corruption charges like dominicas Olympic body is so big in dominica,,,funny people..laughable,,,,zo pokan ah yen, femme gel zo, mon politics sot zo yeh
and what is so embarrassing is..the man explained educationally that they are so small,that they were actually excused from ticket sellings,but our socalled intelligent men and women here with defiance spewing BS,dominica only was represented with two unsuccessful gimmick athletes,,,what this man need to do is call out the culprit and let him or her defend their actions…I wonder how much DNO COMMENTORS THAT WOULD BUY TICKETS…ZILCH
Cortuption and the appearance thereof is a huge problem. Ot perpetrated by a few prople while the masses sit by. Corruption is the primary cause of poverty. The world has enough for all it is just that there is not enough for the greedy.
In as much as i would like to see a cleanup of the DOC the IOC is also very corrupt. While the IOC calling out the Wilsons there is so much inside corruption within the IOC. They buddy up with the Putins and Skerrit like leaders and poor people get impacted and the IOC pretend like they are not aware of the priblems created for poor peoole when corrupt leaders buy favor to become host of the Olympic games.
it is very obvious that the youths of Dominica are not benefitting from this people running the program on island,how many Dominnica was on show in brazil
Both the heads of DOC and DFA obsess over their position. These guys are living of all the royalities that is sent from their respective headquarters. Football is suffering and also Olympics ……and not fulfilling their responsibilities. Only time will tell.
Felix Wilson need to resign so long u head of DOC and not one GOLD medal u can get Dominica.
Delvin that is not the point. Gold medals don’t just fall from trees. If it did, you would have one right now. The DOC definitely needs better leadership from the President to the VP. They have failed our athletes at every level.
#Forthebestinterstoftheathletes
Bad organization just like your horrible island leadership
every body in this country drive me up the wall
Well Mr. Wilson I read your piece and I read the letter, What I gather is there may have been an authorised list of ticket sellers and you may have moved away from that list and it could very well mean that because you could not choose who you wanted you instead may have used lame excuses not to attempt sales, when you could have switched to an authorised agent. If so, I wonder why ? and by extension not selling tickets or not attempting to sell tickets would be constituted as defrauding the Rio committee would it not?
This is my understanding of all your fancy talk, you people think all dominican so foolish.
So Mr. President, everybody lie. You are the only one telling the truth. Sorry if I don’t sing your song. Did they send a letter like this one to any other committee besides Dominica? Why did they pick us? Who are you to make an executive decision for Dominicans and say we can’t afford to go to Rio? Did you give us the option? We have zika here why do you think we are scared of Rio zika? I mean help me to understand your explanations. You just decided that once DOC gets their share for the fun trip, the heck with everything else. Well, keep feeding Dominicans bullsh*t but the IOC will deal with you. Instead of facing the reality you speaking about who leaked the letter. That is not the point plus if it was not an issue why didn’t you make it public? You are so sorry.
Malgraysa you are most welcome more so for your stating you are confused. Keep up the honesty in a land which has forgotten it once existed.
Cheers
making a political case of it.
In 1996 the entire UWP cabinet went to Atlanta,
Eddo Ron ,Dodo , Instru, USVI resident -Wesley Nigga, Ethyl alcohol, Ugg, etc
They left Barry acting P.M lol just 3 !/2 yrs before they were rejected.
Am no fan of the Neo DLP/DFP infiltrated(of the DLP) how many of them were in Rio? did they demand tickets from the DOC? Who knows they might have blackmailed or had one of their Passport agent hybridized into a Ticket agent using Passport funds to purchase tickets and making a profit plus leisure with their concubines not their wives attending (with them) the Rio Olympics). Let\’s continue to press the Wilson for answers.
,
You are pathetic. Stick to the point. We are talking about now and Felix Wilson, not twenty years ago and a govt. that was rejected by the voters. Why don’t you talk about the second world war and who supported whom?
Allie, You are dam right only the opposition leader would have done something stupid as that.
That Dominican can go into denial as much as he wish, but I doubt the IOC would levy any sort of false allegations against anybody in Dominica. The problem here is our silly Dominica mentality, and way of thinking that our country and people are special, therefore the crap we do at home we can take it all over the world with us!
If I was asks to be a judge in the matter; I would have to render a verdict against this Dominican, hence; I believe the IOC prevailed in this one! Why would the IOC focus on Dominica, of all nations of the world, if the so called committee in Dominica had not commit an offence?
The fact that the letter zeroed in on transparency which is the way business are conducted in Dominica, is evidence to the fact that the Dominicans has as stated done something wrong: A leopard is unable to change it color!
At least Wilson called the Radio to give an answer to the people of Dominica..and Dominicans have every right to hold him accountable for the good name of DA.. But!! When is the Big Fish going to call Matt though?
Dominicans should be even more concerned about that. Matt and Carlisle should corner Skewo and have him answer some of the hard questions too, because it seems like Wilson and the others are only following suit in the country..The man managing far more important issues in the country can’t find time to honor Dominicans with answers..Dominicans have to keep the pressure on the leaders and country representatives..they need to know that they have the name of Dominica to keep polished..
The official Olympic 2016 games list of authorised ticket resellers for Central America (incl the Caribbean) shows to the agent to be Cartan. Practically all the countries in the countries in the our region are shown as using this agent, who were also used by the Dominica Olympic Committee for the Olympic games in 2012.
This time Dominica is conspicuous through its absence from this list, as are our neighbours Antigua & Barbuda and Grenada.
Why did the DOC not avail themselves of the services of Cartan this time when other, larger countries such as Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago and Jamaica, among others did?
Did the DOC conspire with their sister organisations in Antigua & Barbuda and Grenada to circumvent regulations and try and market their allocation surreptitiously through an alternative agent for the sake of avarice? If so their are foolish and short sighted because inevitably they were caught with their pants down to the detriment of our international standing and reputation.
Dear Malgraysa Phd,
Excellent piece, man you are good. You must have a doctorate too or is this post your thesis?
I can recall very long ago I wrote a piece about your friend Dr. Astaphan the allegde substance enhancer provider for Ben Johnson. You defended him to the end.
occasionally I tease you mentioning Dr. Astaphan from St.Kitts.
So that\’s me anew. Your post was/is brilliant except for :Why did the DOC not avail themselves of the services of Cartan this time when other, larger countries such as Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago and Jamaica, among others did? FYI, Dominica is much larger than B/dos. Are U a DGS or SMA product?
Looking for a doctorate. FYI I remember you & I was and continue to be home schooled.
Any other question your excellency?
Looking for a doctorate my bad sorry I forgot to say thanks for the microscopic correction.
I know better that one slipped through. I was thinking economies too . okay? Am not groovy bat on radio making all kinds of bloopers including not allowing his guest to speak lol
Attack him for me pleeeeeeeeese
Yours in the struggle . Not sure which one UWP\’s Neo(DFP filled)DLP\’s Nagabinggie, Pappy party, the new party, the rest of Freedom the religious the Cartel within the Neo\’s etc etc.
Am currently confused to be honest.
Malgraysa
if all the countries in the region have used and are using a single middle man for ticket sales and receiving royalties from that middle man… shouldn’t your question be why are they all using the same company and why is ticket sales a monopoly?
Dominicans will always try to do it better, they tried to use a different company which is line with change in a improvement… they know now that the company will have to seek approval from the IOC next Olympics… there’s no corruption.
the real corruption is the Cartan company which seems to have a monopoly in our region.
No, the sales of tickets for the Olympic Games is not a monopoly. The DOC could have chosen to market/sell them through their own organisation as did for example, Iceland, Saudi Arabia and the Philippines. Alternatively they could have used prominent authorised ticket resellers such as the Kingdom Sports Group, or Sportsworld Ltd. or Cartan of the U.SA., which was used by the DOC previously and this time re-sold tickets for most, if not all Olympic Committees in Central America & the Caribbean but also for countries in Europe, such as Greece, Latvia, Slovenia and Macedonia.
I’m at a loss to understand why they attempted to use a non-authorised channel.
This is exactly why the DOC should be recalled and new election held; “lack of transparency in the governance of DOC; the internal leak (), and in the best interest of the athletes. The IOC has been aware of the issues within the DOC and should have banned the DOC if the issues were not fixed. Remember a regional rep for the IOC travelled to Dominica and presented a stern warning to the DOC. I urge the athletes to write a letter to the IOC requesting that they intervene on their behalf to right the wrongs of these DOC. If you recall, there was a ticket issue in London as well. Remember Patrick Hickey, IOC executive from Ireland was arrested in RIO for ticket scandal. Only time will tell.
#OneLoveDominicans!
Until the IOC can be more specific on this matter I will believe Mr. Wilson. This letter from the IOC tells us nothing it just opens the door to fantasy speculation and the usual conspiracy theories.
Perhaps the letter proves nothing to you, ……….
What works in Dominica, the outside world will not be tolerated!
You should be ashamed that the DOC has disgraced Dominica, by presenting their unethical behavior to the world; compounded by lying claiming they did nothing wrong. Such trivial excuse may work in Dominica, but what that has done is give the world a reason not to trust our nations people; because of the conduct of those petty unscrupulous “never-see come-see”
The government of Dominica operates in secrete, no transparency exists in our governmental system, it is a Dominica thing; so why would anyone be surprised that this so called DOC is caught in their own trap of something cynical.
If you read Mr. Wilsons piece and the letter there is enough!!! you are not in kinder……
Nice try, friend… Good luck with that!
What can I say again, you believe the Pope is infallible, even though he is a mortal human being like you and me. I only trust in facts.
I didn’t get the whole thing about this committe
Four yrs ago they had some who had more
potential to win, why didn’t they make that girl
more of their focus for this year?
U r off topic Noreen.
On recreational or medical weed? Stay off the weed so you can focus.
That is the sad part of Dominica’s Olympic participation. We seem to lack any sort of development and continuity for our athletes.
For example, you could see Chris Lloyd and others representing us in the 80’s and it looked like the beginning of something as then they repesented us more than once. We also had Romain getting a bronze at he World Games but he went to France afterwards.
Since then all we have had is one hit wonders who appear briefly and are never heard of again, What happened to the young female sprinter we had at the London Games? I’m not sure if she actually ran a race but she has never been heard of again. The girl we sent this time finished last but looking at her performances she may have been better representing us in the heptathlon. Again, there seems to be no development of our athletes when islands around us are putting out world beaters we struggle to muster two athletes much less any participation in 30 plus sports on offer. We can do better
I support your statement these arthletes go out and come back with all sort of medals but they are never called on to represent Dominica in the Olympic, instead they pick others that cannot do the job but as we all know it’s all about politic and that’s where the corruption.
And what about that light weight British boxer, Valerian Spicer, who has a Dominican mother and represents Dominica? What happened to her? Disappeared without a trace and Aurelius Gordon was so optimistic three years ago that she was going to win a medal for us at the Olympics this year. Boy, I’m fed up with this mediocrity we hiring foreign athletes that are past their sell-by date for our Olympic committee to make some money and fancy travel for themselves. That is a great shame for us.
When you want to play with big dogs, you have to be ready for the consequences ,especially when you think that your are the smartest … n the room !
I smell a rat. This letter was written to Dominica and not a general letter to other islands as Mr Wilson wants us to believe. What is the problem between him and the general secretary. They must be two Strong headed persons and none will leave first the other. According to the calypsonian toute as ki vla goume goume.
so who were the tickets given to , if not sold?
Very, very good question.
They wouldnt have written to you, if everything was done by the book
Mr. Wilson is not forthright in his answer. The letter clearly states “.. as they show that access to the Ticketing Programme was provided to a person unauthorised by Rio 2016”
So who gave the tickets to this person? Who is that person? and who benefitted from the sale of those tickets are the questions Mr. Wilson should be answering.
he said it was World Sports Hospitality and then they were advised they could not use that company… are we reading the same article?
World Sports Hospitality is indeed not on the list of authorised ticket resellers. A company with a similar sounding name is, Sportsworld Ltd., reselling ticket for Denmark but also most countries in the Pacific such a Vanuatu, Samoa, Fiji, etc.
So World Sports Hospitality sold no tickets on behalf of DOC, fine; but tickets were sold on behalf of the DOC in Rio is the claim of the IOC, hence my questions.
ya ya ya ya . a set of talk . we know something happen . I don’t know why these leaders of big organisations like to try fool Dominicans. Like some of us not educated and don’t have common sense enough to understand something went fishy . He sound like he trying to make an explanation for something that happened . So the director of the IOC would write a letter based on nonsense and no proof . Is that what you are telling us ? .So of all the countries taking part they decided to randomly pick Dominica ? When these people talk we must not listen . The head of an organisation can be the head of the corruption . Watch the examples of the major corporations across the world who have faced corruption charges.
Somebody was trying something but when they realized they would have been caught they tried to wash their hands. You can’t hide from the IOC. That shows as to the level of corruption that exists in high places. But don’t worry those who are out there pretending that they are the cleanest whistles will get caught eventually. Good governance and transparency is just chat.
The entire committee needs to be disbanded..It is counter productive,and has not contributed in any significant way in improving the sport of olympics dominica. I sense that even members of the executive are VEX with each other..SHAME ON THEM!!! ..Why should people just enjoy travelling, and the sport is getting no where?ALL OF THEM SHOULD GO!Has our local minister of sports,who does not know how even marble hole is played said anything?
The sport of Olympics?
Sounds like much ado about nothing by the IOC.
Yeah, you would say that as you are used to that clandestine and bad behaviour in Dominica.
When funding will be cut off or reduced our youth and athletes are the ones who will suffer.Not the incompetent executive members.
Ms St.Jean you go girl!
does that mean the tickets were sold before permission was giving to the company. it sounds like the DOC assumed that permission would be granted to the company which went ahead and sell tickets. when the permission was denied they sent back the money… thats what i got from this.. ..
Exactly what I picked up from Mr Wilson’s explanation. There apparently should not have been any transaction prior to the IOC’s approval.
Exactly! So all in all the rules and code of conduct of the IOC was breached. The DOC did not follower proper procedure and that is what is reflected in the response of the president of the IOC.
What is the point of our Olympic Committee?
We have a delegation going to Rio that is large than our athletic contingent who had absolutely no chance of winning a medal.
Wilson and his group have been on the committee and there is absolutely nothing to show for it. What other organization can possibly justify its existence on the basis of that record?
This is a total waste of time and money.
Your answer to your question on what organization can possibly justify its existence based on its record on having nothing to show for it ; FOOTBALL. When last Dominica has won anything or showed progress in development
Skerrit will beg to differ. If asked he will claim money from China, passport sales money add yours readers.
Lizard Wilson having fun that\’s what it is. that is all that is all.
mr. Wilson is very circumspect in his response to questions posed to him by Matt Peltier.
– He does not deny that tickets for the Games were allocated to the DOC.
– If, according to mr. Wilson the DOC did not sell any tickets, what happened to them? Were they returned to the IOC?
It is clear from the IOC letter that they did appear in Rio to gain access.
If mr. Wilson is technically correct in stating that his organisation did not sell any tickets, is it possible that the were “gifted” to someone wihtout any offical record in return for favours or largent seche? This is not an accusation but in view of the lack of transparency, as alleged by the IOC one is allowed to speculate.
I heard Mr. Wilson on the radio this morning and he seemed very defensive. It was almost like he came to fight and not to inform or clear the air. He also said that he initially responded to the letter from his cell phone. Wow–that is bad and downright unprofessional and troubling. Isn’t there a body he needs to report to? I suppose that is the style in country today—-one man gangs!!!!!!- That is what you call a backwater country.