With just four months to go until the 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil, the country is facing many difficulties which have diminished ticket sales. Due to these various problems only half of the tickets for the Games have been sold thus far.
The new minister of sport in Brazil, Richard Leyser, has been looking for ways to boost ticket sales. He has stated that the government may purchase tickets and distribute them to public schools, which would be a start, but he says public officials need to do a better job at easing the minds of those who want to come. He says these officials must boost worldwide confidence in Rio’s ability to host the Games, and ensure all travellers of their safety.
One of the problems the country is facing is that they are going through a political upheaval, causing many protests to go on. Leyser himself was just recently appointed as minister of sport after the previous minister George Hilton resigned just a few days ago. They are also going through economic difficulties, facing their worst recession in 25 years.
Another difficulty is the construction of the Olympic facilities, as it is unsure whether they will be completed on time for the Games. The budget for the facilities was cut by 500 million in January.
High crime rates and terrorism also are a concern for visitors. Brazil has vowed to use double the number of security agents that were used in London four years ago, as they attempt to attract more visitors.
On top of everything else, the zika virus is an obvious concern as well. Brazilian officials opposed a request from athletes and health experts to postpone the Games.
I don’t know about the rest of you folks, but there is no way I would spend thousands of dollars to see the Olympics live in Rio. There’s way too many problems there and I’m going to be content watching the games on TV.
Brazil was a terrible choice for the games. Probably the worst ever. There must have been a lot of bribing of the IOC officials. Nothing would surprise me at this time.
they had a lot issue on the Abroad ticket selling website. What i want to say is people from anywere outside brazil couldnt buy tickets because some bad adminstration…
I have only seen one athlete, Hope Solo and one “health expert” a bioethics guy from NYU as calling for a postponement. Since the games are taking place during Brazilian winter, that should help with the mosquito population.