Rio 2016 Ceremonies to Cost Tenth of London 2012

September 23, 2015

The opening and closing ceremonies for the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be low-budget productions compared to London 2012 and Beijing 2008, according to a member of the creative team for the event.

Brazilian filmmaker Fernando Meirelles estimates that the production in Rio will cost a tenth of the fee paid for the opening and closing ceremonies at London 2012.

London reportedly spent around £80 million on a total of four ceremonies, but due to a recession, Rio will not be spending anywhere near that figure.

“I would be ashamed to waste what London spent in a country where we need sanitation; where education needs money,” Meirelles told reporters.

“So I’m very glad we’re not spending money like crazy.”

Rio will be spending around 39 billion reals ($10 billion) on staging the Games, which is both private and public money.

Watch our latest Road to Rio 2016 Show on iSportconnect TV which focuses on this and the latest news ahead of the Games.

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