Soccerex: Rio pulled plug fearing unrest over cost

Organisers of the cancelled Soccerex football convention said Thursday the Rio government pulled the plug for fear that spending public money on the event would spark public unrest. Brazil, next year's World Cup host nation, has been the scene of widespread  protests in recent months with the public concerned at the mounting cost of staging the event and also the 2016 Rio Olympics. "We wish to reiterate that the chief concern cited to us in this situation was the political concern with regard to the social reaction to the Rio Government’s ongoing support for our event," said a Soccerex statement. Soccerex insisted it complied with all of its own contractual obligations but that Rio took a "unilateral decision to cancel due to civil unrest". The event, scheduled for November 30-December 5 at Rio's Maracana Stadium and bringing together some 4,000 top names from the sport including England coach Roy Hodgson, was cancelled suddenly on Tuesday, leaving Soccerex furious. The Rio state government insisted it pulled the plug not because of security worries but because organizers did not raise sufficient funds to stage the event and wanted the local authorities to foot the bill. In a statement Thursday, seen by AFP, the state administration said it had advised organisers to use a state law offering tax incentives to aid fund-raising. But it added that a "state recommendation was made that sponsorship at Soccerex did not have state resources as a source of funding." And in allusion to ongoing public protests, the state government insisted that "the state has all the conditions to welcome and ensure safety during each and every event to be held in Rio de Janeiro." But Soccerex slammed "the false and misleading claims of the Government of Rio de Janeiro". Soccerex said: "The Government of Rio de Janeiro wrongly seeks to absolve itself of its responsibilities with respect to the funding of the event." According to Soccerex, by signing up to having Rio host the forum, "the (Rio) State Government committed to make substantial contributions to the event" and the obligations and terms of the contract were clear to both parties. Soccerex added that hosting costs were "contractually assumed by the Government" as early as 2010. "As responsibility for organising any funding via this avenue would not have been Soccerex’s in any case, it is unacceptable that the Government of the State of Rio de Janeiro, after disregarding its contractual obligations, resulting in a significant impact to Soccerex, is still looking to deliberately mislead public opinion on the subject," Soccerex charged. It further stated that the securing of the Maracana was "the contractual obligation of the Rio Government" and therefore the Rio government had "sole responsibility ... regarding any investments and the event venue." Source: AFP