RIO DE JANEIRO (AFP) -
The
organizing committee for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics said Thursday it
is confident no Games venues were involved in a corruption scandal
upending the country's business and political worlds.
"We remain
confident that the Olympic constructions, the sport constructions, are
not (involved)," spokesman Mario Andrada told journalists.
Brazil
has been rocked by allegations that construction companies colluded to
overbill state oil giant Petrobras by billions of dollars, bribing
corrupt executives and politicians to look the other way.
The
scandal inched uncomfortably close to the Olympics on Tuesday when
investigators said they had uncovered evidence of bribes paid for two
projects related to the Games: upgrades to the Rio subway and port.
The
country's largest construction firm, Odebrecht, has now vowed to
cooperate with investigators, raising the possibility of a flurry of new
revelations.
Odebrecht is one of the largest participants in the
construction projects for the Olympics, whose total budget is around
$9.5 billion.
Andrada said organizers were preparing for possible "surprises" from the investigation, which is dubbed "Operation Car Wash."
"The
best approach for what we see in Brazil is to follow up and adapt to
the news as it comes," he said in a conference call with foreign
correspondents.
"We cannot worry too much about things, we have to keep rowing in one direction."
With
just over four months to go to the opening ceremony on August 5,
Brazil's attention is largely fixed on the never-ending twists in the
scandal, which is threatening President Dilma Rousseff's government.
"Everybody in Brazil is concerned. It's one of the biggest crises we have faced, it's huge," said Andrada.
But he added: "There is no concern about the Games moving ahead."
He
said ticket sales are "as expected" -- 76 percent sold for the Olympics
and 20 percent for the Paralympics, which open on September 7.
"Brazilians are late buyers," he said.
© 2016 AFP
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