By Duncan Mackay

Agberto Guimares_announces_Rio_2016_training_campsJanuary 24 - A total of 172 venues in 73 Brazilian cities and towns that have been accepted as pre-Games training camps before the 2016 Olympics and Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro were unveiled today by Agberto Guimarães (pictured), the sports director.


National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and National Paralympic Committees (NPCs), several of whom have already started preparing for Rio 2016, will now have the opportunity to check them via a new on-line portal launched by Brazilian officials. 

The selected venues were chosen following a 12-month process during which they had to meet a strict technical criteria laid down by the international sports federations, NOCs and NPCs.

The list is much smaller than London 2012, who released a list of 640 accredited venues across the United Kingdom, of which about 100 have been picked by countries competing in the Games. 

It is also estimated that much more work will be needed to be carried out on the Brazilian facilites than in Britain.

Officials admit that only 14 of the facilities are already up to standard with 150 needed upgrading while eight still have to be built. 

Training facilities have been identified in 18 States across Brazil. 

Rio 2016_Regional_Training_Camps_map

The biggest number is in Rio State with 32 potential training camps.

These include Fluminense, a multi-sports club based in Rio de Janeiro best known for its football team whose former players include Carlos Alberto Torres, the captain of Brazil's 1970 FIFA World Cup winning side. 

Other facilities selected include the Rio Yacht Club and the Physical Education Center of the Army.

The most exotic venue chosen is Porto Belo, which has a reputation for having some of the best beaches in Brazil.

Porto Belo_beach
"We are pleased that this project is a critical part of the dissemination of the benefits and of the experience provided by the Olympic Games to the whole country," said Carlos Nuzman, the President of Rio 2016.

"Receiving Olympic or Paralympic Delegations is a great opportunity to further the social and economic life of cities.

"These cities could start to act as sport development centres in their states or regions and develop sport segments.

"It is also an opportunity for national and international promotion and advertisement of the sport and touristic potential of the involved cities."

Criteria taken into consideration for inclusion on the list included venue accessibility, travel time to domestic flight airports, as well as hotel chains and hospitals available in the surroundings.

"This project is crucial to the sports legacy of the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, as it will boost the renewal of the national, public and private national network of sporting venues with the construction or refurbishment of facilities," said Guimarães.

"There is not a limit to the number of venues that may be indicated and we wish include all which meet the requirements of the International Federations."

For the full list of venues click here.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]