Paralympics Will Not Be Cancelled, Rio Mayor Promises IPC Chief

IPC chief Philip Craven received assurance of grants from Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes.

Paralympian runner AJ Digby takes off in a full sprint during a workout at the Eastwood High School track in Pemberville, Ohio. (Photo: AP)

The Paralympics will not be cancelled, nor will the number of sports be reduced, the International Paralympic Committee chief said on Monday, saying he had received assurances from the Rio de Janeiro mayor over covering the extra costs for the event.

Organisers of the Rio Olympics have long run out of cash, with a judge in Brazil blocking further payment from the state and leaving the Paralympics without much-needed funding.

This morning at a meeting at City Hall in Rio, IPC President Sir Philip Craven ... (was) given a personal guarantee from Mayor Eduardo Paes that he is willing to cover the costs associated with the Paralympic Games

International Paralympics Committee (IPC)

File photo of International Paralympics Committee’s President Philip Crave. (Photo: Reuters)

Judge Marcia Maria Nunes ruled late on Friday that the federal government and the city of Rio de Janeiro could not provide some 270 million reais ($85 million) promised to help pay for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Games and next month’s Paralympics unless its accounts were made public.

Although the situation is pretty precarious, rumours that the Games may not go ahead or that sports may be cut are totally unfounded and not true. Our aim right now is to bring in additional funding and resources in order to deliver the Games at the service levels expected by all stakeholders, most importantly the athletes.

Philip Craven, President, IPC 

He said that should there by no extra funding available, the organisation would need to make cuts in services, just like for the Olympics, where organisers have made savings in the midst of Brazil’s worst economic crisis in 80 years. Paes said after the meeting there was no risk of the Games not taking place.

Rio Mayer Eduardo Paes (M) along with mayor of Los Angeles (L) and mayor of Paris (R). (Photo: Twitter/@Eduardo Paes)

I had a meeting with them to ensure the realisation of the Paralympic Games and to tell them there is no risk that the Games won’t happen.

Eduardo Paes, Mayor of Rio 

Olympics organisers have attempted in the past days to assure the IPC the Games, from 7-18 September, will go ahead as promised and have said they were negotiating with sponsors to raise more money. Craven urged Games organisers to make the accounts public to solve the funding impasse.

Clearly, the simplest and easiest way round this is for the Rio 2016 Organising Committee to be open and transparent with its financial records in order to allow this additional funding to come in.

Craven also sounded cautiously optimistic as the national Paralympic committees would also receive the promised grants to travel to Rio despite a two-week delay in payments.

Finally it looks like we are a step closer to the payment of support grants to National Paralympic Committees which are now more than two weeks overdue. The Organising Committee has now committed to paying these grants by the end of the month. Failure to do so could result in a number of countries being unable to attend the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.