Rio 2016: Paralympics will go ahead with major budget cuts

The Paralympics will go ahead in next month despite being forced to implement major cuts to the budget in Rio de Janeiro.

“Never before in the 56 year history of the Paralympic Games have we faced circumstances like this,” said International Paralympic Committee President Philip Craven.

The IPC said the workforce for the Paralympics will be downsized, transport services cut and the media centres closed for the games. The wheelchair fencing competition will move to a new venue, allowing the Deorodo Olympic Park to be closed and dismantled.

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“These cuts are on top of the ones we, together with the IOC, have already made in the last 12 months and are likely to impact nearly every stakeholder attending the games,” said Craven.

A roughly $7 million travel grant that was supposed to be paid last month to help competing countries get to Brazil for the Sept. 7-18 event that has also been delayed.

“Currently we have around 10 countries who, even if the grants are paid, may struggle to cover the cost of their travel to the games,” he added.

Martin Richard, chief of communications for the Canadian Paralympic Committee, said while Team Canada has made other arrangements to secure flights for athletes to the Games a gap in funding could affect the future work of the committee.

READ MORE: Team Canada ‘concerned’ Paralympics could face funding cuts amid Rio budget crisis

“Worldwide there is a significant concern,” Richard told Global News. “It is huge concern because we want to make sure all the athletes that have qualified to represent their country at the Paralympic Games get a chance to compete on the world stage.”

“It wouldn’t be fair to an athlete to miss the games because the funds didn’t come in time for them to purchase a plane ticket to get to Rio.”

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Canada is set to send a delegation of approximately 155 athletes, participating in 19 sports, to Rio.

“We are not worried about getting Team Canada to Rio and back,” Richard said. “But it is still a huge risk for us financially because if this fund doesn’t come in as part of our budgeting it could create financial risk for the Paralympic committee.”

– With files from Global News reporter Andrew Russell