Budapest - The Hungarian Swimming Association said it stood by national swimming team coach Laszlo Kiss, 75, who has come under fire for his part in the 1961 gang-rape of a young swimmer, a crime he admitted to and went to prison for at the time.
The Communist-era case was picked up again this week in an article on crime news web site privatkopo.hu., leading to a public outcry and calls for Kiss to resign.
But Kiss, who was convicted in 1962 together with two other swimmers and served 20 months of a three-year sentence, said he would stay on as coach as Hungary's swimming team prepares for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
The Hungarian Swimming Association and Committee of Coaches both voiced support for him on Wednesday.
“Everyone must be given a chance to clear his name through performance, resilience,” the Committee of Coaches said in a statement. “Coach (Kiss) managed to do that in our eyes.”
Once out of jail, Kiss returned to swim and later became a successful coach, guiding such stars as five-time Olympic gold medallist Krisztina Egerszegi.
Kiss has not answered Reuters phone calls. He told the web site nol.hu this week that he owed no explanations this long after the crime.
He said that he never denied what he had done and was never able to put it behind him but that in the swimming world, where people knew about his history, people forgave him and accepted him again.
“Because neither the courts nor other authorities barred me from coaching kids, I got a new chance and I used it,” Kiss said. “Anyone can see Hungary's swimming results in recent decades and decide whether I proved myself or not.”
“Because of the approaching European Championships and the Rio Olympics, I cannot just resign right away if the swimmers need me,” he added.
Hungarian swimming has seen its share of sex scandals. In a 2013 book, the former swimmer Nikolett Szepesi accused unnamed massage therapists of sexual assault. Several former swimmers corroborated her claim.
In 2014, the United Nations children's rights organisation UNICEF published a report on youth sports in Hungary and said 31 percent of respondents had been subject to sexual assault.
Reuters