Brazil

Senior golf executives have expressed their confidence that the sport has done enough to secure long-term status on the Olympic Programme following its successful return at the summer Games in Rio de Janeiro.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach has maintained that no public funds have been used to help pay for the 2016 summer Olympic Games after local and national officials in Brazil came to the aid of the forthcoming Paralympic Games.

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) confirmed this afternoon that Deodoro Olympic Park will be closed for the duration of the upcoming Paralympics as part of a raft of cost-cutting measures to be imposed for the Games.

Europe’s most senior Olympic official, Patrick Hickey, has been denied bail and moved to a maximum security prison in Rio, it emerged this (Friday) afternoon.

Kyrgyzstan weightlifter Izzat Artykov has been stripped of the bronze medal he won during the first week of the Rio 2016 summer Olympics after testing positive for a banned substance, while Chinese swimmer Chen Xinyi and Brazilian cyclist Kleber Ramos have also been disqualified from the Games after failing doping tests.

State-run entities such as Petrobras will reportedly step in to aid the cash crisis facing Rio de Janeiro’s summer Paralympic Games, while organisers have conceded that only 12 per cent of tickets have been sold for next month’s event.

Patrick Hickey has temporarily stepped down as president of the European Olympic Committee and vice-president of the Association of National Olympic Committees after being arrested in Rio in connection with an investigation into ticket scalping at the Games.

European Olympic Committees (EOC) president Patrick Hickey, a member of the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) executive board, was today (Wednesday) arrested by Brazilian police in Rio de Janeiro as part of an investigation into alleged fraudulent ticket sales at the ongoing summer Olympic Games.

Joao Havelange, the divisive former president of world football’s governing body Fifa, has died today (Tuesday) at the age of 100.

Mayor of Rio Eduardo Paes has pledged that the costs of hosting the upcoming 2016 summer Paralympic Games will be covered amid reports that Brazil could pull out of hosting the event.

Sports hospitality company THG Sports has hit out after a Brazilian judge ordered the arrest of four of its executives amid allegations of fraudulent ticket sales at the ongoing summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) medical director Richard Budgett has expressed his confidence that any competitor aiming to gain an advantage at the ongoing summer Olympic Games through using designer drugs or gene doping will eventually be uncovered due to advances in testing systems.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has maintained that organisers of the ongoing summer Olympic Games have delivered on their promises, as Rio 2016 has been hit by a court ruling that states the local organising committee (LOC) must provide public access to its accounts before it can receive further financial assistance from the government.

Russia will find out next Monday if it has been successful in appealing against its ban from this year’s summer Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont has hailed rugby union’s return to the summer Olympic Games, stating the inclusion of the sevens format has already proved a “game-changer” for the sport.

The participation of some countries at the 2016 summer Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro has been placed in doubt after it emerged that the Rio 2016 organising committee is yet to deliver support grants to National Paralympic Committees (NPCs).