The 10,500 athletes at next year's Rio Olympics "will feel first-hand the deep budget cuts buffeting the Rio de Janeiro Games: they won't have air conditioning in their bedrooms unless someone pays for it."
Charging for air conditioning is part of what Games organizers call "finding 'fat' and cutting it."
Rio Games spokesperson Mario Andrada said that organizers have found up to R$2B ($520M) that needed "to be cut as part of balancing the operating budget" of R$7.4B ($1.9B).
Asked specifically about the need for AC in the bedrooms, Andrada replied, "We don't think it's going to be critical (to have air conditioning) there" (AP, 12/3). ... The development arm of the Int'l Paralympic Committee, the Agitos Foundation, has announced a partnership with The Foundation for Global Sports Development to support awareness-raising and coach development activities.
The collaboration will benefit projects currently under the Agitos Foundation’s 2015 Grant Support Programme. The Grant Support Programme is in its third year and provides support to the IPC membership for development projects from the grassroots to the high-performance level (IPC).
