Rio Mayor Denies Any Impact of Graft and Political Turmoil in Olympics

Rio de Janeiro: Rio de Janeiro mayor Eduardo Paes said in a press release at Thursday that the Olympic preparation will not be disturbed by Brazil’s political turmoil. The mayor also added that the city authority will take every effort to mitigate corruption and make it a zero while projection of the games will undergo in the city.

According to reports, in a conversation with Brazil’s vice president Michel Temer, the duo had decided the same: “I think the Olympics games are above governments and particular officials. I don't see any risk for the Olympics because of these political problems.” With continuous allegations of corruptions and turmoil in the political scenario, the Rio Olympics 2016 already have received federal investigations. However, Paes denied any wrongdoing and asserted that he is confident that there are ‘no problems with anything under his responsibility’.

According to Federal prosecutor Carlos Lima: “Brazil's biggest-ever corruption investigation involving a massive kickback scheme at state-run oil company Petrobras.” Apart from Petrobas, Lima said that suspicion also surrounds Rio’s metro service and port area that is currently under revitalization. Also, projects directly linked to Olympics games projection are also under scrutiny.

The federal investigation team, which is investigating the preparations for Olympic Games, is more into suspicions more about Paes’s team as they have been caught up in the Petrobas graft probe.