Rio gets IOC cash advance

Rio Games organisers have been given an advance payment by the International Olympic Committee as they race to complete preparations, sources told AFP on Thursday.

The advance, which was requested by the Rio organising committee, takes the total financial support from the IOC to $1.5 billion (1.34 billion euros).

With two months to go before the Rio Games begin, the far-from-finished Olympic cycling track is the only installation running late, organisers say.

A source close to the International Olympic Committee stressed that the amount of money given to the local organising committee had not changed.

"The IOC has just changed the timing but not the total amount. The organising committee will therefore get no more than the money promised by the IOC," a source close to the International Olympic Committee said.

Source: AFP