Nine Australian Olympic athletes were released by police on Saturday after agreeing to a 90,000-real ($28,100 US) fine for entering the basketball arena without proper accreditation, days after a scandal surrounding USA swimmers that marred the Games.
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Nine Australian athletes whose Olympic accreditations were altered could be left stranded in Rio because team officials have not been able to pay their fine.
“The AOC has launched an internal investigation as to who was responsible for not adhering to the accreditation rules”, Deputy Chef de Mission, Fiona de Jong said in a statement.
“We respect fully here the laws in Brazil and the legal authorities”, Mr Bach told reporters.
Nine Australian Olympians have been fined for falsifying documents, an offence that can carry a prison sentence of up to five years in Brazil.
The “naughty nine” were busted with stickers on their accreditations when trying to enter an Olympic Park venue to watch the Boomers’ semi-final on Friday night. The Brazilian Ministry of External Relations’ says on its website, “No Visa required, from May 5th to November 5th, 2016, regardless of nationality, for foreigners with Olympic Credentials”.
The athletes must pay the fines – 10,000 reais ($A4100) each – before they are allowed to leave Rio. “We have and will continue to provide as much support [as we can] to them and their parents”.
The athletes knew they were using tampered accreditations but Chiller says it’s not their fault.
Police said the swimmers were involved in a heated dispute with gas station employees after committing an act of vandalism – an account that was corroborated by the youngest of the swimmers, 20-year-old Gunnar Bentz, who blamed Lochte for the damage.
The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) confirmed that the athletes included Rugby Sevens Captain, Ed Jenkins and bronze medal winning cyclist, Matthew Glaetzer among others.
Nine Australian athletes charged over accreditation tampering will be on tomorrow’s flight home, despite fears they could be stranded in Rio without their passports.
After a big night out in Copacabana, Australian swimmers Josh Palmer and Emma McKeon not only failed to return to the Olympic Village in good time – but were banned from attending the Games’ closing ceremony by team management.
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Swimmer Josh Palmer will also be on Monday’s flight home after being interviewed by Rio police for almost six hours on Saturday over his claims he was robbed at gunpoint in Copacabana.
