Rio Report -- Blair Named Olympics Advisor; Pan Am Venues Unused

Rio Hires Blair for Olympic Advice

Rio de Janeiro Olympic organizers are hoping former British PM Tony Blair will help stage a successful Olympics. He’s been hired as a private consultant.

''Tony Blair is largely responsible for London winning and hosting the Olympics in 2012'' said Rio governor Sergio Cabral after meeting with Blair at his home in London last weekend.

''If London has reached 2010 with everything in place, it is because of the planning and preparation during the period when he was Prime Minister,” said Cabral. ''So hiring him provides a great bridge between London and Rio. ''

In addition to his consultancy, Blair will give at least one speech in Rio. While his fee was not disclosed, Blair is reportedly the world’s highest paid public speaker. He has earned nearly an estimated $24 million in speaking fees since stepping down as PM in 2007.

Not everyone is happy with the hiring of Blair. Brazilian author Paulo Coelho wrote on his Twitter account that Blair is responsible “for an illegal war”.

“NOT IN MY NAME. Not in my country,” Coelho tweeted.

“Tony Blair deserves Hague, not Rio,” said the writer, who was part of the official delegation to the IOC Session in Copenhagen where Rio was elected.

Coelho said on Monday, despite “overwhelming support” for his Tweets against Blair, politicians in Brazil remain silent.

Blair is the second major big name hired for the Rio Olympics. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s firm was hired to provide security advice in the lead up to the Games. Giuliani led a zero-tolerance on crime administration during his tenure as mayor from 1994 to 2002, which many say helped lead to the dramatic decline in crime in the city.

Pan American Venues Not Used Says Newspaper

Media reports in Brazil say the venues used in the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio are not being used, despite pledges they would not become white elephants.

According to a report in O Estado de S. Paulo, the Maria Lenk aquatics center needs $2.7 million in annual upkeep, yet will be largely unused. Currently, the Russian synchronized swimming team is using the pool for 15 days of practice. In 2009, the natatorium remained similarly dormant, with 12 days of use, the paper says.

Since then, the Brazilian Olympic Committee assumed ownership of the venue and adjoining velodrome that was alsoused at the 2007 Pan Am Games. The committee wants to develop a high performance training facility for water sports at Maria Lenk; more than $24 million is being raised to create the center.

BOC president Carlos Nuzman was quoted by the newspaper saying “we cannot disclose any more details because we hired international consultants to draw up a plan for professional management” of the venue. He added concrete details will be made public “as soon as possible”.

BOC sports director Marcus Vinicius told O Estado that plans for the center can’t be done “hastily” due to the size of the project. “The COB is creating a center based on the best international schools” he said.

But the head of the Brazilian synchronized swimming said the problem with the venue is its location in Barra de Tijuca, the hub of the Pan American Games (and Olympics) west of Rio de Janeiro.

Sonia Hercowitz said Barra “offers little” for sport, and said it is easier to continue training at their current site next to Maracana Stadium.

Written by Ed Hula III.