Summer Olympic Games demand for tickets to all levels of each event, there was controversy when seats set aside for sponsors and National Delegations went unused in the early days. A system of reallocation was put in place so the empty seats were filled throughout the Games. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil hosted the 2016 Summer Olympics, becoming the third city in the Southern Hemisphere to host the Olympic Games after Melbourne, Australia, in 1956 and Sydney, Australia, in 2000, and the first South American city to host the Olympics. The preparation for these Games was overshadowed by controversies, including the instability of Brazil's
Olympic Games ceremony all nations have entered, the President of the Organizing Committee makes a speech, followed by the IOC president. At the end of his speech, he introduces the representative or head of state of the host country who officially declares the opening of the Games. Despite the Games having been awarded to a particular city and not to the country in general, the Olympic Charter presently requires the opener to be the host country's head of state. However, there have been many cases where someone other than the host country's head of state opened the Games. The first example was at