Rio Athletics Track goes Dark

The Track and Field Stadium for this years Olympic Games in Rio has gone dark after unpaid utility bills have been left unpaid. The amount of unpaid bills is around $345,000 AUD, however the biggest problem seems to be finding out whether City Hall or the Rio Soccer Club is responsible.

In a statement to The Associated Press, the city hall said Botafogo has been responsible for the utility bills since May 2015.

But the club told the AP in a statement that the city government owed it money to pay water and electricity bills.

“We have to find out who is responsible for the debt,” the club said.

The Brazilian website Globo Esporte, which is connected to the newspaper O Globo, said the unpaid bills totalled 1 million reals (A$345,000). It reported electricity has been off since last week and said water was cut more than a month ago.

The website said two months of payments were in arrears.

Brazil is in the middle of a deep recession, forcing cutbacks to Olympic preparations. Organisers are trying to chop about $500 million in expenditures to keep the operating budget at $1.9 billion.

The cuts are reaching all aspects of the games, including reducing the use of unpaid volunteers. The volunteers receive uniforms, meals on the days they work and transportation to venues. They must pay their own housing costs.

The Rio Olympic committee doesn’t expect this to affect the games.