Unauthorised copying of files: Rio Olympic organisers says employees acted alone

Rio de Janeiro Olympic organisers say the employees accused of stealing confidential files from the London Games acted alone and did not intend to harm either organisation.

“They acted alone, without the knowledge of their immediate bosses or any other Rio 2016 leaders,” the Rio committee said in a statement yesterday. “Although they allege that they had no intention of harming either organisation, they broke the principles of mutual trust between the committees.”

It said the 10 workers had been given access to the files, but were fired because they were not allowed to make copies of the documents without authorisation. The committee said the workers had signed a contract prohibiting them from downloading the files.

“These workers didn’t have to copy these files without authorisation,” the committee said. “They could’ve simply requested them to the LOCOG, which had been cooperating and sharing information.”

The statement came a day after Brazil’s Sports Minister Aldo Rebelo, the Government official in charge of the 2014 World Cup and Olympic preparations, called the episode “lamentable” and “unacceptable,” although he praised the Rio committee for quickly solving the case.

Rio organisers had been criticised for not disclosing the incident earlier, but it said the investigation only ended last Tuesday.

It said the London team contacted them about the breach on September 1, saying the files were copied by some of the Rio employees who had been working in a knowledge transfer programme for about three months. London organisers said they wanted their counterparts to help them find and destroy the downloaded files.