IOC Coordination Commission Chair Says Brazil Crisis Will Not Affect Rio Games

Rio 2016 organizers said that the political and economic crisis engulfing Brazil "will not affect preparations for Rio de Janeiro's Olympic Games in August as venues are being completed on time," according to Pedro Fonseca of REUTERS. The lower house of Congress "votes on whether to impeach President Dilma Rousseff on Sunday, in the latest chapter of a crisis that has divided the South American nation and plunged its economy into the deepest recession in decades." The IOC's Coordination Commission Chair Nawal El Moutawakel said that despite political turmoil, venues "are on schedule and organization has been good so far." She said, "We are advanced with our own work in spite of the complicated political and economic atmosphere and that has not had an impact because the preparations are on schedule" (REUTERS, 4/14).