Pan American Games. Rio 2007.

Two presidents, two prime ministers and a monarch cavorted in front of the unelected, unaccountable members of the IOC begging to be allowed to spend billions on their three week circus. In the end it was Rio, the poorest of the four cities but the one which had promised to spend the most with a budget of $14.4bn (£9.90bn) for construction and $2.8bn (£1.92bn) for operating costs - all of which will be underwritten by the government, that was rolled over. That may well not be the end of it. In 2007 Brazil’s Pan American Games was four times over budget, just like London’s Olympic budget. Similar concerns exist about a likely overspend on Brazil's hosting of the 2014 World Cup. Even a Brazilian sports paper, Lance, has said the 2014 bid was a confidence trick and the money should have gone on health and education.