Rio mayor promises to cover cost of Paralympics

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

Organizers 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. 

Judge Marcia Maria Nunes ruled late on Friday the federal government and the city of Rio de Janeiro could not provide some $85 million US promised to help pay for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Games and next month's Paralympics unless its accounts are 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," Craven said.
 
"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."

The IPC has warned that countries might not be able to travel to Rio if they do not receive grants that should have been paid last month. An effort is underway to distribute $7 million in overdue grants to help nations get to Brazil for the Sept. 7-18 event.
 
He said that should there by no extra funding available, the organization would need to make cuts in services, just like for the Olympics, where organizers 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.
 
"I had a meeting with them to ensure the realization of the Paralympic Games and to tell them there is no risk that the Games won't happen" Paes told reporters.
 
Olympics organizers have attempted in the past days to assure the IPC the Games, from Sept. 7-18, will go ahead as promised and have said they were negotiating with sponsors to raise more money.

'One step closer'

Craven urged Games organizers to make the accounts public to solve the funding impasse.
 
"Clearly, the simplest and easiest way round this is for the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee to be open and transparent with its financial records in order to allow this additional funding to come in," he said.
 
Organizers have declined to comment as it is an ongoing legal case.
 
Craven also sounded cautiously optimistic 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," he said.
 
"The Organizing 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."   

With files from The Associated Press