Brazilian billionaire Eike Batista has donated 13 million reais (about $6.8 million) to the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games organizing committee, reports the Latin American Herald Tribune.
Batista made the donation Monday, adding to the 10 million reais (around $4.5 million), he gave to the bid committee in April.
The businessman said he was confident that Rio de Janeiro had a good chance of being selected the host city for the 2016 Games by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) October 2 in Copenhagen.
He said, “Rio has all the conditions to win this competition”, adding that he was confident of the full backing of public officials, including President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, for the Olympic bid.
Brazilian Olympic Committee and Rio 2016 President Carlos Arthur Nuzman said Batista’s donation “shows the confidence of Brazilian businessmen”. He added, “we are in the home stretch of the campaign, a time of much unity”. He said Batista had been an “enthusiastic supporter” of Rio’s bid since learning about it.
