IOC to hear from Rio organizers amid budget cuts, recession

With eight months until the opening ceremony, the final stretch of Olympic preparations is taking place amid political and financial turmoil in Brazil.

While concerns over construction delays in Rio have eased over the past year, organizing committee chief Carlos Nuzman will be under pressure to reassure the IOC that the economic and political crises won't derail planning for South America's first Olympics, which open on Aug. 5, 2016.

The downturn comes with Brazil mired in a massive kickback scandal centered on Petrobras, the giant state-run oil company.

The process was initiated by a political rival, based on accusations Rousseff's government broke fiscal responsibility laws by using money from state-run banks to fill budget gaps and pay for government social spending.

Separately, organizers have not yet signed a contract with a private energy company to supply electricity for the games, meaning that power may come only from temporary generators.

A new round of testing by The Associated Press found the waterways being used for the Olympics are more widely contaminated by sewage than previously known and pose a greater threat to the health of athletes.

The IOC is also involved in talks to recognize a single governing body for skateboarding, one of the five sports proposed for addition to the Tokyo program, along with baseball-softball, surfing, karate and sport climbing.