The IPC claims that the organizing committees in Rio did not raise enough money for the Para athletes-and now there are only 19 days left until the Opening Ceremony.
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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.
Cuts are to be made to the workforce, transport and venues, while 10 countries are struggling to finance the sending of teams to Rio due to the late arrival of National Paralympic Committee (NPC) grants from the event’s organising committee.
Sir Philip said: “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”.
“Never before in the 56 year history of the Paralympic Games have we faced circumstances like this”, International Paralympic Committee President Philip Craven said.
Craven added: “These cuts are on top of the ones we, together with the International Olympic Committee, have already made in the last 12 months and are likely to impact almost every stakeholder attending the Games”. The first athletes are due to arrive on August 31, although there will be no Russians after the country was suspended from the IPC over its state-sponsored doping scheme.
The closure of Deodoro Park, which was due to host shooting, wheelchair fencing, equestrian and seven-a-side football, is the most significant cutback, meaning many events will have to be accommodated elsewhere.
A Rio 2016 spokesman said it still hoped to sell more than 2m of the 2.4m tickets available for the Paralympics but at present only 300,000, or 12%, have been sold. “The IPC is working with them to find solutions and ensure their participation here in Rio”.
And in a devastating blow to the Games, which begin next month, ten countries may now not be able to compete because of a chronic shortage of funds.
As of this week, 12 per cent of tickets to the Paralympics had been sold, according to Andrada.
Despite the setbacks and challenges, Craven said he believes the Games can still be a success and act as a catalyst for positive social change in Brazil.
“We have to have full participation”, he said, demanding the payment of the missing grants “pronto”.
Andrada attributed the revenue shortfall to the “level of ticket sales and sponsorships” for the Paralympics that has been “below our expectations”.
“You only have to look at some of the achievements from Para athletes over the last two years to realize that we will witness some truly spectacular sport”, he added. He saw what the London 2012 Paralympics did for the British capital, and now he wants that same transformation to take place here in Rio.
“The IPC’s announcement makes clear there is a major risk to that”.
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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.
