A bombshell. Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes caused a stir in Brazil by publicly criticizing the country's sports authorities. The first elected official was not nuanced, going so far as to describe it as “shameful” that the 2016 Olympic Games were entrusted by the IOC to Rio de Janeiro.
Eduardo Paes expressed this during an interview with the North American television channel ESPN. An interview which will be broadcast in full on Friday August 23. And which could further fuel the controversy.
Essentially, the mayor of Rio is angry with Brazil's sports authorities for not taking sufficient care of the country's athletes competing for the 2016 Games. And for letting cities, starting with his own, get their hands on to the portfolio and finance their preparation.
“It’s a shame that Brazil is hosting the Olympic Games,” suggested the mayor of Rio. We must take care of the legacy of the Olympic Games in the city, the federal government is the one that must put in place a sports policy. It is not the role of the town hall to pay high-level (athletes), my role lies in the universalization of the practice of sport: Olympic city and physical education in schools. »
Eduardo Paes goes further. Winded up like a clock, he directly attacks federal elected officials. “It’s a scandal, a shame, the way things work. It is difficult to administer sport in Brazil with the quality of the leaders in place. They stay in place for life. »
Reading the latest results, the words of the mayor of Rio appear very credible. At the London Games last year, Brazil came in tenth place in the medal standings, with 17 places on the podium, but only two gold medals. At the world athletics championships in Moscow last week, the Brazilian delegation was left with empty pockets. Not a single medal, at the end of a competition where no less than 38 countries were called to the podium.
Very lively, Eduardo Paes also spoke about the vagueness maintained on the future of the infrastructures of the 2016 Olympic Games. He admitted not knowing if the Olympic installations would be managed by the municipalities, or if they "will become places where the leaders place their cousin at the bar. » Finally, the mayor of Rio sent a few missiles to FIFA, which according to him was only concerned about the stadiums, and not about the future of the facilities in the 12 host cities of the Football World Cup in 2014. Explosive.
Photo Credit: Klaus with K
