Ryan “We Were Robbed” Lochte wasn’t the only one who took Brazilians for a ride with a tall tale. Three months after the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, the state of Rio is broke — forced to slash state workers’ wages and pensions by 30 percent — and $31 billion in debt.
Brazil bought the lie that the Olympics would provide an economic boost worth the expense of building a vast sports complex.
The 2016 Games are hardly the last to leave a mess behind. Greeks furious at their nation’s bankruptcy can “admire” multiple rotting facilities left over from the 2004 Olympics; Russians have hulking edifices going to seed after the 2014 Winter Games. Indeed, Brazil is also stuck with more useless “infrastructure” from the 2014 World Cup.
The “global sports-industrial complex” has become a cancer in the world. Time and again, nations agree to host competitions in foolish bids to win acclaim. All too often, it’s a wide-open invitation to corrupt crony capitalism (or crony socialism).
A former Rio governor is implicated in bribery and kickback schemes linked to World Cup and Olympic construction. Both FIFA, the body overseeing world soccer, and the International Olympics Committee have faced multiple bribery scandals.
World athletics should honor the human spirit — not be a cover for con games that leave hosts bankrupt, with nothing to show for it but giant, crumbling stadiums.