Rio 2016: Paralympic Financial Situation Remains Fluid

(ATR) City officials are working to appeal an injunction that could threaten public funds being used for the Paralympic Games.

Rio 2016 is seeking last minute cash infusions to help balance the budget for the 2016 Paralympic Games. Money is desperately needed to fund key areas of the Games, especially in light of the organizing committee missing a key deadline to pay travel grants for smaller Paralympic Committees.

"The mayor in Rio said the city government will appeal on the injunction and provided information that city hall will help financially with the Paralympic Games," Mario Andrada, Rio 2016 communications director, told reporters in today’s daily briefing.

"What has affected the Paralympics in terms of financing was low ticket sales and lack of sponsorship. Our first priority is to determine how much money is needed for the travel grant and how soon we can offer it. We are working in [a timeline of] a matter of hours instead of days, and the appeal will be presented this morning."

Andrada confirmed that during the appeal of the injunction Rio 2016 will work with the city and federal government to allow the flow of public money into a private company. Andrada said that the federal government had offered $78.9 million for the Games initially. Ticket sales remain ongoing for the Paralympics, and the organizing committee continues to look for new sponsors to buoy the budget.

Rio 2016 is in a time crunch to solve the Paralympic Games budget, with the opening ceremony coming in 22 days. Andrada said that an updated figure for how much money is needed for the Games would be available tomorrow.

"it is kind of a moving target so it explains why [information is] different, and we have a lot of stakeholders involved so we have to fine tune with everyone."

IOC Confident in Rio Doping Lab

IOC Medical and Scientific Director Richard Budgett says the Rio anti-doping lab is the most independently scrutinized lab for an Olympic Games.

Budgett took questions from reporters about the state of the lab and the 2016 Olympic anti-doping testing. He said that the lab had be reaccredited through the help of the World Anti-Doping Agency and independent experts, and the IOC was pleased with the process.

"We’ve taken extremely serious measures with WADA, talking extensively with them to make sure the integrity of samples are maintained," Budgett said. "There are a large number of international experts in the lab and that gives us expertise and assurance and better integrity."

So far at the Olympics, 3188 total urine, blood, and biological passport samples have been collected. Budgett estimates that the total number of samples collected will be over 4000, with around 6000 tests being taken. National Guard and independent security officials have been staffed in the lab to prevent the tampering of samples, in addition to CCTV cameras that the IOC will review.

The samples will be stored in the lab for 10 years, per IOC protocols, to be re-tested in the years to come when new anti-doping tests are developed. Budgett said that the message of these Games is spectators should feel confident in the sporting feats accomplished in Rio, but know that drug cheats will be caught.

"We can be confident in the performances, but you can never know for sure, so I think we should celebrate them."

No Water-Related Illnesses Yet

So far, there have been no confirmed water related illnesses says the IOC.

Sailing competitions in Guanabara Bay have been ongoing since August 8, and the rowing competition has wrapped up at the Lagoa de Freitas.

"A number of athletes do get ill, will get ill, and will get ill in all sorts of sports; it is a matter of whether this is different from what is normally expected," Richard Budgett said to a question posed by Around the Rings. "So in the period of the Games itself the water quality has been good and in all the fields of play as well so we can be confident that illness is not associated [with the Bay or Lagoa]."

Budgett says monitoring will continually be carried out by the international federations, Rio 2016, and the IOC. Athletes from the open water swim, triathlon, and canoe sprint are due to compete in the waters of Rio de Janeiro today or in the coming days.

Pool Close to Fixed

Rio 2016 says the color of the diving pool is almost back to normal.

Mario Andrada told reporters that the color of the diving pool is closer to the original blue than yesterday, after a 12-hour treatment was done on the pool. Andrada added that the synchronized swimming pool in the Maria Lenk complex is back to its original color after organizers drained the pool and refilled it with new water.

Written by Aaron Bauer in Rio de Janeiro

Homepage photo: Getty Images

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