The lead-up to these Paralympics were met with financial shortcomings attributed to tepid sponsor interest and ticket sales, which resulted in cuts to volunteer staffing and transport, the re-location of events and the partial deconstruction of the Deodoro venue cluster. However, ticket sales began to increase as the Games drew nearer, and over 2 million tickets were sold in total—overtaking Beijing 2008 as the second-most-attended Paralympic Games on record. The Russian doping scandal also affected these Paralympics; unlike the Olympics, which selectively allowed Russian athletes to participate, the entire Russian team was banned from the Paralympics. A team of two refugee athletes also participated in Rio, "hosted" by the Greek and American Paralympic Committees.