FINA files show Montreal 2005 fiasco was years in the making

The Montréal Gazette has gotten hold of information after a 7-year court battle, showing that signs of an impending financial debacle were apparent more than a year before Montreal was stripped of the FINA 2005 World Aquatics Championships. Yet even as the bills accumulated, the organizing committee spent millions of dollar to pay, and sometimes lend, money to companies that were associated with members or the organizing committee. The whole row ended tragically with FINA removing Montreal as host in January 2005, the organizing committee’s head, Yvon DesRochers, committing suicides days later, and the city then reinstated again as host after the mayor of Montreal promising that the city would cover any deficit. Read much more here on The Gazette.