RIO DE JANEIRO: Carlos Arthur Nuzman, former president of Brazil’s Olympic Committee (COB), has been charged with corruption, China’s Xinhua news agency reported, citing media reports on Thursday, told Bernama.

Nuzman has been accused of paying bribes to African delegates to ensure that Rio would be chosen as the host city of the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Sergio Cabral Filho, who served as governor of Rio de Janeiro state at the time Rio was chosen as host city, has been charged as well.

Cabral is already serving a 45-year sentence for another count of corruption while facing a dozen other charges, all related to governmental corruption and bribery.

Nuzman was arrested on Oct 5. A Brazilian court Thursday ordered his release from jail, granted him a habeas corpus and put him under house arrest.

Nuzman faced charges of corruption, criminal associations, money laundering and capital flight. He reportedly has hefty amounts in both cash and gold in foreign banks.

After his arrest, Nuzman resigned from his position as COB President, where he was serving his sixth consecutive term. A former Olympic volleyball player, Nuzman had been commanding the committee since 1995, and was at the helm of organizing both the 2016 Olympics and the 2007 Pan-American Games.