Passages: Longtime FINA Bureau Member Coaracy Nunes Filho Dies at 82

Coaracy Nunes - FINA Bureau member 2000 until his arrest in 2017 - Photo Courtesy: Patrick B. Kraemer

FINA Bureau member Coaracy Nunes Filho passed away on Thursday at the age of 82. Nunes Filho was the President of the Brazilian Swimming Federation starting in 1988, and was re-elected six times before being removed from office in a scandal that landed him in prison.

A former President of UANA, he was a FINA Bureau Member from 2000 to 2017 and was among those who helped to bring the 1995 FINA World Short Course Championships to Copacabana in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. He also contributed to the organizing efforts in Rio at the 2007 Pan American Games and 2016 Olympic Games. It was his involvement with Rio 2016 that would land him in trouble with the law.

Nunes Filho was found guilty in 2019 on charges of fraud by the Federal Regional Court of São Paulo and sentenced to 11 years and five months in prison. He was also given a further detention period of three years and six months for misuse of public funds. Nunes Filho also received a 600-day financial penalty.

They were caught, charged and now convicted as part of the 2015 Operação Águas Claras – Operation Clearwater – a police investigation into criminality intended to make fraudulent gains from bidding processes related to sport and for diverting public funds to travel companies. Some trips – such as that of a junior swim team bound for FINA competition in Kazakhstan – were booked but never taken.

Removed from office by the events surrounding the legal case against him, Nunes Filho had not been a member of the FINA Bureau since 2017, having been removed from office in Brazil.

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