Since it was awarded the Olympics last month ahead of Chicago, Madrid and Tokyo the city has seen a rise in the number of violent incidents and more than 40 people have been killed in battles between gangs and the police.

 

Lula said: "We are not going to fail.

 

"We will host the Olympics better than these countries did in the past."

 

Lula has pledged an extra $76 million (£46 million) to help fight crime in the city.

 

He said: "There is no limit to help Rio de Janeiro.

 

"For us, it is important to show the world that Brazil and its society are more powerful than organised crime."

 

After the orientation seminar, Gilbert Felli (pictured), the IOC's executive director of the Olympics Games, said he was reassured by Rio's early preparations.

 

He said: "Organising the Olympic Games is a complex undertaking and it requires great teamwork from everyone involved.

 

"This orientation seminar has allowed us to continue to lay the foundation for that collaboration and to build upon the transfer of knowledge that Rio has already benefited from during the bid phase.

 

"It was particularly reassuring to see that all levels of Government were represented, with Minister of Sport [Orlando] Silva, Governor [Sérgio] Cabral and Mayor [Eduardo] Paes all taking part.

 

"This underlines to us the strong cooperation that exists between the Games stakeholders and the commitment of the country to these Games.

 

"The fact that we have been able to come to Rio so soon after its election is a great credit to Carlos Nuzman and all the team at Rio 2016.

 

"With such an ambitious project, you cannot afford to lose any time and Rio has avoided this by setting to work again immediately after the vote in Copenhagen.

 

"The organisers also need to identify quickly their initial priorities from among the myriad of options that exist and, hopefully, this seminar will help them to make those decisions.

 

"We were impressed by the attitude and focus of the participants over the two days and I am confident that they will use what they learned to give us top-quality Olympic Games in 2016."

 

Nuzman, the President of Rio 2016 said: "We began our work whilst still in Copenhagen, less than 24 hours after Rio was declared the host city.

 

"This seminar was important, so that we could establish our next steps, further integrate all those involved in the process of organising the Games and align our efforts.

 

"It was a very useful and productive meeting, where we were able to learn from the IOC about the experiences of previous organising committees as they prepared for the Games.

 

"We thank the IOC for visiting us so soon after our election and for helping to focus our efforts on the essential areas of our preparations."

 

 

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