Aubut steps aside in wake of sex harassment probe
TORONTO — Marcel Aubut stepped down as president of the Canadian Olympic Committee and chairman of the Canadian Olympic Foundation on Wednesday for the duration of a sexual harassment investigation.
The COC received a complaint last Friday about Aubut and has retained François Rolland, former Chief Justice of the Quebec Superior Court, to lead an independent investigation.
“Mr. Marcel Aubut has learned of allegations concerning remarks he allegedly made to a colleague,” a COC statement said. “He has offered his unconditional support to those responsible for investigating the remarks attributed to him and setting the record straight. This is a normal process that should be completed by mid-October.”
Aubut and the COC issued separate statements about the allegations.
The 67-year-old from SaintHubert-de-Rivière-du-Loup, Que., asked to step away from his duties during the investigation.
Aubut is a lawyer who served as chief executive of the NHL’s Quebec Nordiques until the team was moved to Colorado in 1995. He helped hockey stars Anton, Marian and Peter Stastny defect from communist Czechoslovakia to Canada in 1980 to play for the Nordiques.
In 2000, he became a member of the COC and was elected to its board of directors and executive committee in 2005. Aubut was voted president-elect of the COC in March 2009, becoming president in April 2010.
The brewing scandal comes at a time when international sports bodies continue to be buffeted by trouble at the top. Only last week, FIFA president Sepp Blatter was placed under criminal investigation by Swiss authorities as a probe into soccer corruption reached the highest levels and left his grip on the top job in peril.