Brazil

Organisers of the 2016 Rio de Janeiro summer Olympics announced today (Tuesday) that a budget of R$5.6bn (€1.7bn/$2.3bn) has been set aside for Games-specific infrastructure projects.

The operating budget for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro summer Olympic and Paralympic Games has increased to R7bn (€2.2bn/$3bn), organisers announced yesterday (Thursday) evening.

Deputy Sports Minister Luis Fernandes has said the Brazilian government has implemented emergency measures to avoid the threat of Curitiba being dropped as a venue for the 2014 Fifa World Cup football tournament.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach has underlined that Rio de Janeiro’s preparation schedule for the 2016 Olympic Games is “incredibly tight” after staging a meeting with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.

Curitiba has been warned that it will be dropped as a host venue for the 2014 Fifa World Cup national team football tournament unless there is significant progress in the Brazilian city's stadium construction project.

Local organisers have said that Sao Paulo’s stadium for the opening game of the 2014 Fifa World Cup is almost complete, despite work having yet to be restarted on the collapsed roof that resulted in the death of two workers in November.

Rio de Janeiro’s budget for hosting the 2016 summer Olympic Games will finally be announced at the end of January, according to the Bloomberg news agency.

The 2014 Laureus World Sports Awards, due to take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, have been officially cancelled following a row over payments.

Major General Fernando Azevedo e Silva, the army general responsible for co-ordinating preparations for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, has admitted that organisers are facing “very short” deadlines ahead of the event.

The 2014 Laureus World Sports Awards, sport’s multi-million dollar answer to The Oscars, is in doubt due to a row over missing payments from the Rio de Janeiro state government in Brazil.

The Rio de Janeiro state government has formed a special police force to help control violent demonstrations during the 2014 Fifa World Cup and other large sporting and cultural events held in public venues.

Fifa president Sepp Blatter has said Brazil’s struggles in delivering their World Cup venues on time are a consequence of beginning their preparations too late.

A special 10,000-strong riot force is to be established for the 2014 Fifa World Cup in an effort to support police control during the tournament in Brazil.

Indy Racing League, the operators of the IndyCar motor-racing series, have filed a lawsuit against the company responsible for promoting the Sao Paulo Indy 300 event in Brazil.

The International Handball Federation (IHF) has announced that Qatari pay-television broadcaster Al Jazeera has become its global media rights partner for the 2015 and 2017 Men’s and Women’s World Championships.

Fifa has announced that a vanishing spray currently being used at the Club World Cup to mark out distances for free kicks will also be used for Brazil’s staging of the 2014 World Cup.