Kuala Lumpur: The Badminton World Federation (BWF) has accepted Gustavo Salazar Delgado’s resignation after the No. 2 guy of the badminton’s highest governing body (after president Poul-Erik Hoyer) was under investigation over a bribery and money-laundering case in his homeland, Peru, surrounding the Brazilian construction giant Odebrecht.
Delgado was accused of helping transfer the bribery payment that worth $1.2 million USD offered to Jorge Acurio, former Regional Governor of Cusco. It was claimed that the money was given to Jorge Acurio in favor of receiving a government contract of building a new road in Cusco.
The Peruvian who joined BWF in 2007 and was re-elected as the Deputy President of BWF without challenge on May 20, 2017, won 19 Peruvian singles and doubles titles in the 1980s, and 1990s before he became a businessman.
In an official statement released by BWF on Monday, the badminton’s highest governing body said Delgado has been “excused from his duties”.
“In his communication to BWF, Salazar indicated he would step aside for the time being so as not to cause any reputational or undue damage to the BWF while the investigation is in progress,” the Kuala Lumpur-based body said.
BWF also stated that the corruption scandal that involved Delgado was solely related to his “personal business matters” and has nothing to do with the sport of badminton and his role as the BWF deputy president.
BadmintonPlanet.com also noticed Gustavo Salazar Delgado’s profile has been removed from the BWF Council/Executive Board on BWF’s official website. BWF Vice President – Dagmawit Berhane from Ethiopia had moved up one spot to fill the gap emptied by Delgado.
