Rio Olympic Cost Overruns Reach $1.6 Billion: Oxford Study
- Rio 2016 games to be 51% more expensive than budgeted
- Olympic games always costlier than expected, study finds
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A study from Oxford University’s business school found that the Rio 2016 games will cost $4.6 billion, or an overrun of 51 percent for a country that is facing a second year of economic contraction.
With the opening ceremony less than a month away, Rio de Janeiro state is close to bankruptcy and has delayed salaries for civil servants including police. That has raised security concerns as a spike in crime was punctuated by a dismembered foot washing up near the Olympic volleyball arena last week. Some athletes have pulled out citing the Zika virus, while others have expressed concerns about competing in sewage-filled water.