Brazilian prosecutors charged former Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB) President Carlos Nuzman and five other people on Wednesday with corruption "based on an investigation of alleged bribery to have Rio de Janeiro host the 2016 Games." Nuzman, who was provisionally suspended by the IOC and arrested in Rio on Oct. 5, "was charged with racketeering, money laundering and violating currency laws." Former Rio de Janeiro State Governor Sérgio Cabral and former COB Dir Leonardo Gryner also "were charged with corruption" in connection with a $2M payment to guarantee votes for Rio (REUTERS, 10/18).
The Tokyo 2020 Olympics Organizing Committee announced details of the 62 municipalities across Japan which have volunteered to participate in its Operation "BATON" sustainability program. BATON (Building Athletes' village with Timber Of the Nation) is an initiative to construct the Village Plaza for the Tokyo Games using timber produced in the participating municipalities (Tokyo 2020).
The Russian Olympic Committee spent over 1B rubles ($17.4M) to "prepare the national team for the upcoming Winter Olympics." ROC First Deputy President Stanislav Pozdnyakov said that the team's preparation for the Winter Olympics is "in full swing," although the ROC is "facing difficulties that traditionally accompany the warm up for the world's biggest sporting events." Russia's participation in the 2018 PyeongChang Games is "still threatened by an ongoing doping investigation" (RT, 10/17).