(ATR) The president of the Dominican Republic Olympic Committee (COD), Luis Mejía Oviedo, confirmed to Around the Rings his resignation from office with two years remaining in his mandate.
Not unexpectedly, his announcement drew media attention inside and outside his country.
"In the Electoral Assembly of the COD in December 2018 I made the decision that I was going to be there for only two years," said Mejía Oviedo.
"At the time of my election to the position of president of the COD, I requested a dispensation to retire after two years and I am fulfilling that promise," he recalled.
Mejía was elected for the first time as head of the COD in 2004 as the successor to José Joaquín Puello Herrera, today president of the COD for life.
The joint work of both directors was decisive in the success of the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo. Puello Herrera was president of the Central American and Caribbean Sports Organization between 1986 and 2003 while Mejía Oviedo has held that position since 2019.
As a member of the International Olympic Committee, Mejía Oviedo will remain a full member of the national Olympic body, confirmed ATR.
Through a statement, Mejía recalled the day before the request he had made in 2018 to the Electoral Assembly of the COD.
That stage will be completed in January.
Mejía reported that the management of the delegation from the Dominican Republic that will attend the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games will be under his coordination, together with the Headquarters of Mission.
"It is a task that we will not neglect for a single second until we have successfully crowned our participation in Japan," he said.
In an exclusive statement to ATR, Mejía announced that this Wednesday he began negotiations with health authorities to guarantee some 150 anti-Covid vaccines for the Olympic delegation.
The Dominican representation at the postponed Tokyo Games could be around 70 members.
The president of the COD is thankful that on Tuesday the Ministry of Sports, led by Francisco Camacho, provided the resources required for the preparation of the Olympic delegation, with the majority of training bases in Europe and Asia.
This effort will be joined by the already approved contributions of the Creating Olympic Dreams (CRESO) program, chaired by businessman Felipe Vicini.
Mejía had promised to leave the post when he was sworn in as president on January 9, 2018. Now, according to the COD bylaws, the first vice president, Antonio Acosta, is due to assume the position next month.
Despite the traumatic year faced by the coronavirus pandemic, the COD has played an important role in agreements signed for the benefit of athletes and coaches and the Olympic family in general.
Among his most recent legacies, the presidency of Mejía Oviedo put into practice the formula of concentration of "la búrbuja" to guarantee the training of the Olympic preselected and other high performance athletes.
Likewise, the Olympic Television Channel of the COD has been hired by the Government for virtual classes for Dominican students in the midst of the pandemic.
The COD also made progress on a proposal agreed upon with the new Sports Minister to modify the General Sports Law.
As president of Centro Caribe Sports, Mejía Oviedo is currently involved in solving the continuity of the 2022 Central American and Caribbean Games after Panama pulled out as host last summer.
Mayaguez (Puerto Rico) and San Salvador (El Salvador) are the two candidates who have taken the step forward and who will be inspected in person by a CCS delegation headed by Mejía.
"In the second half of January we will be visiting both cities," Mejía told ATR in this race against time.
Homepage photo: COD
Written and reported by Miguel Hernandez
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