Plagued by budget problems throughout the lead-up to this past summer’s Olympic Games, Rio 2016 organizers are still facing monetary issues months after the world’s largest international competitive sporting event has ended.
According to an exclusive report by Inside the Games, organizers’ outstanding payments have been frozen due to the outfit not yet receiving funds from the Brazilian City Government. As a result, workers and companies employed by Rio 2016 organizers have still yet to be paid.
Mario Andrada, Rio 2016 Director of Communications, insists that 95% of what his organization owes will be paid by the end of the year, with staff taking first priority. individual professionals are next on the ‘to be paid’ list, followed by large companies.
“There is no question that everybody will get paid,” Andrada told Inside the Games. “There is no chance in the universe that they will not.”
The money bump from Brazilian government, sponsors and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is expected to be received in the November/December time frame. Although the city government money is tied specifically to the Paralympic Games, Andrada tells Inside the Games that the funds can still be used for services and individual who are currently owned money.
The Olympics’ budget issues was a recurring theme throughout the lead-up to the 2016 Games, as organizers initially had to raise the original budget estimate, only to the slash it months later. The committee also played with different cost-cutting options, including originally eliminating Athlete Village air conditioning and television. Opening and Closing Ceremonies were also greatly scaled back from those of 2008 Beijing and 2012 London as another cost-saving measure.