Brazil

A free report, commissioned from SportBusiness by the Budapest 2024 Olympic Games bid, surveying attitudes to, and media consumption habits around, the Olympic Games.

Rio 2016 has maintained it ran a clean bid for the 2016 summer Olympic and Paralympic Games amid a report today (Friday) that corrupt payments could have influenced the decision to award the event to the Brazilian city in October 2009.

Video games publisher Riot Games has announced that Brazil and China will host the two showpiece events for its League of Legends (LOL) series in 2017, with the season finale having the potential to set a new attendance benchmark for a major esports event.

The International Boxing Association (Aiba) has stated “unprofessional relationships” within its organisation created an atmosphere of collusion between senior management and judges at the 2016 summer Olympic Games, but has ruled out the possibility that active interference took place in the result of bouts in Rio de Janeiro.

The Rio de Janeiro State Court of Justice has ordered a consortium of companies, including construction firm Odebrecht and sports and entertainment facility operator AEG, to “immediately resume” maintenance of the Maracana stadium.

The International Golf Federation (IGF) has maintained it remains committed to the golf course developed for the 2016 summer Olympic Games despite a key Latin American event being assigned elsewhere, while Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike has expressed her unease at membership rules employed at the venue chosen for the 2020 Games.

Rio de Janeiro’s Deodoro Olympic Park, one of the main sites for the 2016 summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in the Brazilian city, has been forced to close, while local football authorities have called for action to prevent further damage at the Maracana stadium after it was targeted by looters.

The International Orienteering Federation (IOF) has received bids from Brazil and the Czech Republic to stage its World Championships in 2021.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) mixed martial arts promotion has entered into a long-term partnership with Brazilian event operator IMM in a move that is designed to further develop the series’ profile in the country.

Brazil’s federal government has been assigned the operating rights to the Olympic Park sports venues developed for Rio de Janeiro’s staging of the 2016 summer Olympic and Paralympic Games after a failed auction process.

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has said the organising committee for the 2016 summer Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro has now paid the travel grants it owed for this year’s event.

Sports data and technology company Genius Sports has enhanced its reach in the Latin American basketball market by agreeing a three-year partnership with the Brazilian National Basketball League (LNB), the body that governs the domestic top-tier NBB competition.

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has said it is “urgently seeking” a resolution to a funding issue related to the 2016 summer Paralympic Games that is impacting on its financial affairs.

Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes has protested his innocence after a state court froze his assets amid an investigation by public prosecutors into whether he improperly waived an environmental fee for the company that built the golf course developed for the 2016 summer Olympic Games.

Brazilian construction firm Andrade Gutierrez Engenharia has admitted to being involved in a cartel for the building of a stadium that was used to stage matches during the country’s hosting of the 2014 Fifa World Cup.

Despite having produced a record five-time world champion national team, league football in Brazil is still failing to fulfil its commercial potential. Kevin Roberts speaks to expert Jamil Chade to assess the health of football in Brazil.