The Paralympic Games will go ahead despite facing “major budget cuts”, the International Paralympic Committee has announced.
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There will be major budget cuts for the Paralympic Games in Rio. In London 2012, Brazil won 212 gold medals and this year the team has a good chance of placing a top five finish in the medals table for the first time in history.
Craven added the cuts were “likely to impact almost every stakeholder at the Games” admitting that, at present, there at 10 countries who, even if funding comes through, “may struggle to cover the cost of theta travels to the Games”.
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”.
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.
The wheelchair fencing competition, for example, will take place within the Olympic Park rather than at a special destination location, so that the previously designated location can be “closed and dismantled”, a statement from the committee said.
However, the workforce for the Paralympics will still be reduced, transport services cut and media centers closed.
The Rio 2016 Organising Committee’s budget for the upcoming Paralympic Games is not at the level they committed to.
Grants of more than $7 million that Rio organizers were due to make to the 165 participating countries are nearly a month overdue. “The IPC is working with them to find solutions and ensure their participation”.
Mr Craven added: “Currently we have around 10 countries who, even if the grants are paid, may struggle to cover the cost of their travel to the games”.
The initial payments that ensure full participation from all 165 participating countries were meant to be awarded in July, and the delay could be fatal.
On the flip side, the athletes who can find a way to actually get to this year’s Paralympics will be comforted to know that the security now in place for Olympics will remain unaffected. A familiar tune repeated through the World Cup in 2014 and going into the Olympic games at the beginning of August.
‘We are working desperately hard to protect athlete services, especially within the field of play.
The UK’s official Paralympic broadcaster, Channel 4, remains hopeful of a successful Games despite the cuts, with a spokesperson telling The Drum: “We are focussed on delivering fantastic coverage of the Rio Paralympics to UK audiences”. “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”.
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“We will be taking our full team proudly to the Rio Games and will strive to mitigate as much as possible any factors which could impact on their performance”.
