Abandoned, Maracanã Stadium's New Owner Might Could Be Decided Next Week

01/13/2017 - 14h04

The government of Rio de Janeiro state intends to define the new manager of Maracanã stadium by the end of next week.

The state government's Civil Affairs Department has already received all the documents from the two parties interested in managing the stadium.

Two French companies (Lagardère and GL Eventos) made proposals to purchase the part of construction company Odebrecht in the Maracanã consortium, which currently administrates the arena.

The consortium is comprised of Odebrecht (95%) and AEG (5%).

Investigated by the Brazilian Federal Police's Lava Jato operation, Odebrecht says it has accumulated losses of R$ 173 million (US$ 54 million) in the operation.

The government intends to have a new administrator in order to reduce the criticism it has received regarding the abandonment of Maracanã.

In October 2016, the stadium's administrators decided to file a request for arbitration at FGV (Fundação Getúlio Vargas) to return Maracanã to the state government, which had spent some R$ 1,2 billion (US$ 376 million) in reforms.

Abandoned by Odebrecht, the stadium's playing field is virtually destroyed. Historic pieces were stolen, such as the bust of journalist Mário Filho – the stadium was named after Filho.

The stadium does not have electricity due to the lack of maintenance of the electric power equipment.

Rio de Janeiro's Soccer Federation is intermediating the negotiations. The federation could organize the first matches to be hosted by the stadium this year. Rio de Janeiro state's soccer championship will begin with the city's major teams on January 25.

The government does not want to receive the stadium. Rio is facing one of the worst economic crises of its history.

	Nacho Doce/Reuters
	Abandoned by Odebrecht, the stadium's playing field is virtually destroyed

Translated by THOMAS MUELLO

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