Deaflympics: Canceled

The Winter Deaflympics, scheduled to begin just a week from today in Slovakia, have been canceled. The International Committee of Deaf Sports is expected to release more information soon. You can read the official announcement here. Some media reports are blaming the cancelation on corruption and unfinished facilities. The games were first canceled back in May, then reinstated just a few weeks later, based on promises from Slovakia that the promised facilities would be ready. However, last month the city of Levoča announced it would sue the Slovak Deaflympics Committee and the developer company because of the unfinished stadium in Levoča. Some are blaming the head of the Slovak Organising Committee, Jaromír Ruda. One newspaper reported that Ruda had no stadium agreement related to the games and had run up bills that have not been paid. Some countries were planning to bring a number of participants. Canada, for example, was set to field a team of 38 athletes.