Brazilian justice orders closure of Rio 2016 Olympics sites

For Rio de Janeiro, the legacy of the 2016 Games is increasingly heavy to bear. The future of the Olympic facilities is now in abeyance, after justice has ordered their closure, until the presentation by the municipality of security certificates for their operation. The town hall announced that it would appeal the decision, announced Wednesday January 15.

In his decision, which was consulted by AFP, the judge responded favorably to a request by the federal prosecutor's office in Rio to ban the holding of events in the Olympic facilities until the town hall presented the certificates.

The judge explains that he made this decision "to preserve the security of the population", because "shows and concerts" are regularly organized there.

"This situation can lead to tragedies"

In particular, the Rio Olympic Park hosted the Rock in Rio mega festival at the end of September, which brought together more than 700,000 people over seven days of concerts.

"This situation, caused by sites damaged by the lack of surveillance and by the presence of thousands of people, can lead to tragedies," wrote the magistrate. The dilapidated state of certain infrastructures was already pointed out six months after the Games.

Barely six months on, Rio Olympic venues already in disrepairhttps: //t.co/3z39rwbwKg pic.twitter.com/29sYAiZfqm

Prosecutor Leandro Mitidieri, in charge of the case at the Rio Federal Prosecutor's Office, particularly regretted the fact that the installations never obtained proper licenses - licenses that should have been issued as soon as the site was completed .

"There has only been a succession of provisional licenses. It is not possible that this situation has persisted for more than three years," the prosecutor said Thursday at a press conference.

1,500 construction defects, according to the prosecutor

"We have to put an end to this culture which means that we can leave facilities to operate precariously, with provisional licenses, until there is a tragedy," he added.

The prosecutor was referring to the death in February 2019 of ten young players from the training center of the Flamengo football club during the fire in the prefabricated housing.

Mitidieri also cited a report from the Sports Ministry listing "1,500 construction defects" in Olympic facilities.

"There are notably water leaks in the central tennis court, but also problems with the roof of the velodrome, which was supposed to be built with a non-flammable material and caught fire twice," he said. he called back.

A heavy liability

The infrastructure of the 2016 Games, the first ever held in South America, had been sharply criticized for its staggering cost, around 12.5 billion dollars (11.2 billion euros), and the corruption scandals that surrounded the sites.

According to the prosecution, the federal entity responsible for managing the infrastructure of the Games "disappeared last June, which contributed to the state of abandonment of the premises, with theft of equipment and electric cables".

The measure affects in particular the Olympic Park of Barra da Tijuca, lung of the Olympic Games in a tourist area in the west of Rio where are among others the multisport arenas, the tennis center and the velodrome.

It also concerns the region of Deodoro, a popular district 40 kilometers north of Copacabana which had hosted disciplines such as horse riding, rugby, field hockey and canoeing.

With AFP

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