The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has refused to commit further funds to covering debts racked up by organisers of the 2016 summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
The IOC said that it had “closed all its obligations with the organising committee” after the executive board held a meeting with Brazilian Olympic Committee president Carlos Nuzman, who had asked for assistance in satisfying creditors who are still owed about R130m (€35m/$40m) following the 2016 Games.
The executive board said that it had already contributed a “record” $1.53bn towards the Games and said that “more detailed information” was required. The IOC added that it “deferred any further consideration at this stage.”
The IOC added that there had been “an exceptional effort to significant cost savings and additional financial undertakings by all the Olympic stakeholders, which amounted to hundreds of millions of dollars.”
In other news, an independent drug-testing authority (ITA) will be installed by the IOC for the 2018 winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.
The IOC’s medical chief, Richard Budgett, told reporters yesterday (Sunday) following an executive board meeting in Lausanne: “We will assist it but (testing) in Pyeongchang will be under the authority of the ITA. It will be there in Pyeongchang, even if in a preliminary form. Responsibility will be passed to the ITA. The resources of the IOC will be there at their disposal.”
Separately, the IOC confirmed that it expects to complete retesting of more than 1,000 doping samples from the 2010 winter Olympics in Vancouver next month.
Additionally, the IOC executive board also confirmed that discussions are taking place regarding the possibility of establishing a refugee team for the Tokyo 2020 summer Olympics after such a team was represented in Rio for the first time.
