Brazilian oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA said on Wednesday it will spend R$10.5M ($3.25M) "to buy marketing rights to the financially troubled Rio de Janeiro Paralympic Games," according to Jeb Blount of REUTERS. The decision allows Petrobras, as the state-controlled company is known, "to become an official sponsor of the event about a week before it is set to begin on Sept. 7." The Games "was forced to make budget cuts as the city and state of Rio de Janeiro, mired in a major Brazilian recession, struggled" to pay the R$40B ($12.4B) price tag for the 2016 Olympics and Paralympics. Rio 2016 Communications Dir Mario Andrada said that Petrobras' money brings R$205M ($92M) in extra funds Games organizers "can draw on." The bulk, R$150M ($46.3M), "is from the City of Rio de Janeiro." The rest, R$55M ($16.9M), "is from Petrobras, the lottery unit of Caixa Economica Federal, a Brazilian government bank, and Apex, Brazil's Trade and Investment Promotion Agency." The company said in a statement that the sponsorship deal will allow Petrobras to run advertisements on TV, radio and social media mentioning the Games and featuring "Team Petrobras" athletes it is sponsoring for the Paralympics during the Games themselves (REUTERS, 8/31).
ROOM SERVICE: In London, Ben Rumsby wrote countries arriving in Rio for the Paralympics -- including Great Britain -- have been forced to clean "grimy" apartments in the Athletes Village and arrange their own transportation during the Games "following the swingeing cuts to its budget." A week away from the opening ceremony of disability sport’s blue-riband event, "the impact of the biggest crisis the Paralympic movement has ever faced was already being felt on the ground as a new wave of athletes began to converge on Brazil following the Olympics." Travel grants vital to the participation of dozens of nations "had still to be paid, with those countries already in Rio forced to foot the bill themselves in the hope of being reimbursed by the Rio organising committee." Cuts to the transport network for the Games "also meant countries having to source drivers and vehicles -- again at their own expense -- to ensure their athletes and officials were able to get around the city" (TELEGRAPH, 8/31).
RAISING AWARENESS: The Agitos Foundation and The Foundation for Global Sports Development announced a new five-year partnership which aims to raise awareness and knowledge of Para sport around the world. GSD will support three areas of education in the build-up to the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
The Int'l Paralympic Committee’s athlete education program, Proud Paralympian, will be at the center of the partnership. The Paralympic School Programme will also be a beneficiary of the partnership. Thirdly, GSD will also support selected projects to promote Para sport awareness and inclusion around the world (IPC).
