1. 5 updates

Rio Paralympics faces crisis amid 'major budget cuts'

The Paralympic Games will go ahead next month but faces major budget cuts, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has announced just 19 days before the opening ceremony.

Here are the key developments:

  • Rio's organising committee has not raised enough money to fund the Games
  • Delayed travel grants mean 10 countries may struggle to get teams to Rio
  • The Deorodo Olympic Park will be closed and dismantled
  • Cuts will also be made to transport and the workforce
  • IPC President Sir Philip Craven said the Games had 'never faced circumstances like this'
  • Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson said Paralympians are being treated like 'second-class citizens'
  • The British Paralympic Association will take a full team to Rio

Live updates

Talks held to deal with 'calamitous' Rio cash crisis

A week of "intense crisis talks" has taken place to deal with a "calamitous" cash crisis in Rio's Paralympics budget, ITV News Correspondent John Ray said.

Organisers are facing a shortfall of around £10m, after money was shifted from the Paralympic budget to help pay for the Olympics.

Mark Colbourne: Cuts to Rio Paralympics 'disappointing'

Paralympic cycling champion Mark Colbourne has lamented the major cuts to the Rio Paralympic Games as "disappointing", as he expressed concern for the impact on the paralympic movement .

Speaking to ITV News, Colbourne, who retired in 2013 after winning a gold and two silvers at London 2012, said: "We're trying to promote the paralympic movement here, we're trying to up-skill and upscale what we do as athletes.

"To go to Rio and not have a 100% of the ticket sales sold out, not have the staff that we had in London, like the Games makers, who almost made the paralympics for us, would be very, very disappointing."

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British Paralympic Association: Cuts to Games 'worrying'

The cuts to the Paralympics in Rio are "worrying" and pose a "major risk" to the legacy of the London 2012 Games, the British Paralympic Association has said.

The association will take a full team to Rio and said it will "strive to mitigate as much as possible any factors which could impact on their performance".

In a statement it said:

The news about the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games is worrying given the obviously constrained budgets and significant reductions in service levels for venues, transport, provision for the media and other stakeholders.

London 2012 proudly showed the world what was possible and we want Rio to be the next stage of that positive journey. The IPC's announcement makes clear that there is major risk to that.

We fully support the IPC in their work with the Rio 2016 organisers and are with them in meeting the challenge of driving forward the Paralympic Games and movement.

– British Paralympic Association

Paralympians 'being treated like second-class citizens'

Paralympians are being treated "like second-class citizens", with major cuts to the Games announced just 19 days before the opening ceremony in Rio, Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson has said.

Around 10 countries' participation in the Games is under threat, amid huge cuts to venues, transport and the workforce.

Speaking to ITV News, the 11-times Paralympic gold medallist said: "It does feel like they're being treated like second-class citizens. I don't think that's what Rio intended because they've got great swimming and athletics teams, lots of media coverage.

"They're a country that get paralympic sport, but I think the pressure of getting the Olympics right has just meant they're robbing Peter to pay Paul and the upshot of that is what we're seeing now."

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