Following criticism of the Under-20 World Cup inaugural ceremony in Barranquilla, the northern Colombian city’s Comptroller’s Office announced Tuesday it will be performing an audit of the $3.6 million spent on the event.
The audit was sparked by complaints that various musical artists were not paid for their performance, and that more than 2,000 dancers never received compensation, only bus fair and money for make-up and costumes. At the same time, the office will be investigating nearly $1.4 million that was invested in infrastructure and facility improvement in the Metropolitan Stadium.
“We will begin investigating what’s related to the inauguration show, but we are also obliged to take a look at all of the investments made by the World Cup organization,” stated Comptroller Jorge Iglesias.
Those responsible for organizing the event have mostly limited their commentary to say that Barranquilla was not prepared to host such a large event.