Paralympic Games Officials Confirm Event Despite Financial Troubles

With less than 21 days to go before the start of the Paralympic Games, organizers "are scrambling to obtain extra funding and sell tickets to the competition events," according to Lise Alves of the RIO TIMES. The Int'l Paralympic Committee "has been holding meetings with both city and federal Brazilian officials so that additional funding may be obtained for the Games." IPC President Philip Craven said, "If no extra funding is available then the Organizing Committee will have to implement further cuts to the Paralympic Games, on top of the cuts we have already made alongside the IOC and Olympics." IPC officials, however, believe that "the financial situation of the September events is serious, rumors of cancellations are not true." In addition to financial problems, ticket sales for the Paralympic Games "have been disappointing." According to Paralympic Game organizers, only about 300,000 of the 2.5 million tickets put on sale for the event, which runs from Sept. 7-18, "have been sold" (RIO TIMES, 8/17).