Not shocking…

We knew the Brazilian-held Olympics were a sham, and we were by far the earliest and most outspoken critics of almost all of the Olympic Sailing. And now here’s and where the sham began…

Brazilian investigators said on Tuesday that politicians and the head of the national Olympic committee arranged a $2 million bribe to bring the 2016 games to Rio de Janeiro, despite the city having the worst conditions to host the event.

Police in Rio raided the home of Brazil’s Olympics chief, Carlos Arthur Nuzman, after prosecutors accused him of conspiring with former state Governor Sergio Cabral, already convicted in a separate corruption case, to buy the games.

Nuzman’s lawyer, Sergio Mazzillo, said his client was innocent. Calls to Cabral’s attorney were not returned. The legacy of South America’s first Olympics, which ended just over a year ago, has been muddied by allegations of graft.

Nearly every infrastructure project connected to the games is under investigation. Prosecutors allege that major construction firms bribed politicians and others to win contracts worth billions of dollars for the event.

Tuesday’s development drove home the stunning fall from grace of officials who sold the idea that Rio’s Olympics would transform a developing-world city through giant strides in security, infrastructure and environmental improvements.

Prosecutor Fabiana Schneider said at a news conference that what was striking about Rio winning the games was it did so despite being “the worst candidate.”

“The Olympics were used as an enormous trampoline for corruption,” Schneider said, citing billions of dollars spent on construction projects.

Most of the building was done by large construction firms now ensnared in Brazil’s sweeping “Car Wash” anti-corruption investigation. The firms have admitted paying massive bribes to politicians and former executives at state-run companies in return for contracts. Article thanks to Reuters.

And our thanks to Sailing Anarchy…