EXCLUSIVE: Brazilian President Meets Rio 2016 to Discuss Legacy

(ATR) Rio 2016 President Carlos Nuzman met with President Michel Temerin Brasilia today in what was described as an executive meeting to Around the Rings.

Nuzman was joined by Sports Minister Leonardo Picciani to give Temer an update on the current state of Rio 2016 legacy. Nuzman also presented the current state of Rio 2016’s financials, as the organizing committee is still paying off the final $31.7 million [R$100 million] to suppliers.

"President Temer is very well informed with everything that has to do with the games so the fact that he is willing to push legacy for us it is good," Mario Andrada, Rio 2016 communications director said to ATR. "He pledged his authority of support to the legacy of the Games. So from now we talk legacy this is an idea from the President.

In the meeting Andrada said that Nuzman thanked Temer for helping provide funding to make the 2016 Paralympics a success.

ATR understands that this meeting was not about securing funding for legacy projects. Instead it was a high level meeting where Temer reiterated his support for the Games’ legacies, which admittedly have not all gone according to plan. However, if after action is taken and federal funds are required to continue to boost legacy, a future meeting to iron out funding is not out of the question.

In the meeting the three parties discussed ideas to boost the Games’ legacy. Temer reportedly discussed how he hoped for Rio’s legacy to one day match the positive reception the Games received on television and from the athletes.

ATR understands that the meeting was substantially shorter than originally planned, but still highly productive. Yesterday, eight of Temer’s cabinet ministers were implicated in a vast list of politicians who have allegedly taken bribes from Odebrecht as part of the Lava Jato investigation.

Legacy for the Rio Games has been decidedly mixed. Organizers insist that all venues were built with post-Games use in mind, although many have struggled to find current uses or even operators. Citizens throughout Rio admit that there have been needed transportation upgrades in the city but quality of life improvements have been vastly overstated.

Picciani was appointed sports minister by Temer in May 2016 after the suspension of Dilma Rousseff. He was quickly tasked with overseeing the final few months of Olympic preparations. The sports ministry’s role in the post-Olympics landscape grew after it assumed a 25-year lease on the Barra da Tijuca Olympic Park as no private company met City Hall’s tender.

Homepage photo: Getty Images

Written by Aaron Bauer

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