The Rio Paralympic Games will go ahead next month but will face major budget cuts, the International Paralympic Committee confirms. When Brazil was awarded the games in 2009, the economy was booming.
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This was a reference to the worst recession in Brazilian history and the ensuing political turmoil which has left president Dilma Rousseff facing impeachment. We are problem solvers by nature and fight for what we believe in.
Sir Philip Craven, IPC president, said the organisation has been faced with great challenges with just 19 days to go until the opening ceremony.
“I believe the performances of the Para athletes will act as a catalyst for social change”.
“The opportunity we have here to make Rio, Brazil, Latin America and the world a more equitable place for all does not come around very often, so we have to grab it with both hands”.
The organising committee’s failure to raise the money to fund the multi-sport event means a number of venues will be closed while some countries may be forced to withdraw entirely. This is the budget to run only the games themselves.
While the workforce will be downsized and changes made to the the transport schedule, the biggest announcement was that the Deorodo Olympic Park would be closed and dismantled.
Deodoro’s equestrian, seven-a-side football and shooting venues will now work as standalone locations.
The IPC has secured an additional $47 million in funding from Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes and said the government will bring in up to $31 million of sponsorship from state-run companies. In addition, Craven claims that the Games will inspire others and create positive societal change.
“In a country that has 45 million persons with an impairment, spending 250 million real ($A100m) to change the way they are perceived and change their reality is not an expenditure, it’s an investment”, he said.
Months ago in Lausanne, Switzerland, officials said that roughly 25 per cent of tickets had been sold.
The empty seats at the Olympic arenas tell the story of Brazil’s financial hardships.
“I wouldn’t like to invite the Brazilian public to come, I’m summoning them”, said Parsons, whose name stems from a Scottish grandfather.
Andrada said only 12 percent of 2.3 million Paralympic tickets had been sold.
“It is huge concern because we want to make sure all the athletes that have qualified to represent their country at the Paralympic Games get a chance to compete on the world stage”.
Speaking to ITV News, Colbourne, who retired in 2013 after winning a gold and two silvers at London 2012, said: “We’re trying to promote the paralympic movement here, we’re trying to up-skill and upscale what we do as athletes”.
This could impact the countries’ ability to participate at Rio 2016 and some athletes were even set to arrive as early as August 31st.
“At the IPC we are a relatively small but united organzation”.
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The British Paralympic Association described the situation as “worrying”, while Paralympian Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson warned that the crisis risked making Paralympic athletes into “second class citizens”.
