The Int'l Paralympic Committee is "facing a major new financial crisis linked to Rio 2016," according to Dan Roan of the BBC. A reported $3.7M of travel grants owed by the Rio 2016 organizing committee to national Paralympic bodies "are two weeks late." Several smaller countries "took out loans to send teams to Brazil -- which the IPC covered with emergency funds." The IPC is "now thought to be considering legal action" against the Rio 2016 organizing committee. An "initial installment of delayed grants covering the costs for athletes and officials was paid." But the second payment "is now overdue, risking another blow to the legacy of South America's first Games." IPC spokesperson Craig Spence said, "We're hugely disappointed that the second installment of the travel grants, just like the first set, have not been paid on time by Rio 2016 and are urgently seeking a resolution to this issue from all parties concerned." Rio 2016 officials are understood to have "told the IPC that they cannot pay because they themselves are owed money from the city authorities." Furthermore, their accounts "have been frozen by a court following a lawsuit filed by two suppliers who say they have not been paid" (BBC, 12/13).
