Garibaldy (Gary) Bautista defeated Antonio Acosta in the presidential elections of the Dominican Olympic Committee held on 1 December 2022. Acosta only served two years. His predecessor Luisin Mejía lasted 17 years in the position, Dr. Joaquin Puello lasted two decades and Roque Napoleon Muñoz, eight years.
Bautista won in a close election, with a vote of 35-34. An engineer, he is also president of the Dominican Softball Federation. He had campaigned committing to greater transparency in the financial management of the organization and better relations with the sports federations.
The new board has a four-year term (2022-2026). The media reports its challenge is to correct the accountability in the management of funds that for years has affected the COD that oversees 39 sports federations that receive government funds. The federations are questioned for being highly profitable for the directors while benefits trickle down to the athletes.
In recent months, the sports federations were affected by the decision of the Abinader administration to apply the non-profit accountability rules. This meant that the COD budget was cut in half when the Ministry of Economy implemented the protocols for liquidating government resources given the lack of accountability in filing on the use of the allocated funds.
The new COD board is now:
Garibaldy Bautista, president
Luis Chanlatte, general secretary
José Manuel Ramos, first vice president
Irina Pérez, 2nd vice president
Radhamés Tavárez, 3rd vice president
Jorge Blas Díaz, co-secretary
José Mera, treasurer
José Miguel Robiú, co-treasurer
Read more in Spanish:
Dominican Olympic Committee
Diario Libre
Diario Libre
7 December 2022