(ATR) Dilma Rousseff has abandoned plans to attend the Rio 2016 torch lighting ceremony in Olympia for unspecified reasons, Greece's Olympic Committee chief tells Around the Rings.
Her absence from the April 21 ceremony at the birthplace of the Olympics, which precedes the traditional torch relay around Greece and the host country, comes amid Brazil’s deepening political crisis and possible impeachment of Rousseff.
"The plan was she was going to come for the lighting of flame," Hellenic Olympic Committee president Spyros Capralos told ATR after it emerged she had scrapped the trip. "We were advised by the embassy of Brazil in Athens. They didn’t specify reasons."
Capralos said no replacement for Rousseff at the lighting ceremony had been announced and the Brazilian government delegation was yet to be confirmed.
But he noted that there was no British head of state in attendance at the lighting ceremony in Olympia for the London 2012 Olympics.
"It’s going to be a great lighting ceremony and a great handover ceremony. We are working very hard on that," he said.
IOC president Thomas Bach will light the flame before it embarks on a six-day trek around Greece prior to the handover to Brazilian officials on April 27. Rio mayor Eduardo Paes and 2016 Games organising committee president Carlos Nuzman are the leading Brazilian Olympic figures scheduled to attend the handover at Panathinaiko Stadium, venue for the Athens 1896 Olympics.
During the Greek leg of the torch relay, the torch will pass through the Eleonas camp for refugees and migrants in Athens.
Capralos told ATR he will run with the flame before handing it to a young Syrian athlete, who has received asylum in Greece. The athlete will carry the torch around the refugee camp. The plan was previously announced by Bach on a trip to the camp in January.
"It’s a big message for solidarity, unity and peace around the world," Capralos said.
Reported by Mark Bisson
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