IOC defends Rio legacy amid green protests

RIO DE JANEIRO: Ecological protests on Saturday dogged the final day of an International Olympic Committee executive board meeting in Rio as green campaigners slated the choice of a nature reserve to hold the golf event next year.
“IOC go home!” protesters yelled at IOC president Thomas Bach as he exited the plush hotel hosting the meeting just off the iconic Copacabana beach.
“Do you want to talk?” responded Bach, who earlier insisted the Games would provide a lasting legacy.
Protesters greeted the former fencing champion with a storm of boos and banners reading “ecological holocaust”, “Thomas Bach is a nature killer” and “The city is not for sale.”
Rio is spending some $14 billion for the Olympics — private and public money combined.
But the preparations have been dogged by the pollution debate as well as the fact that the economy fell into recession last year on the back of a fourth straight year of pallid growth.