Corinthians Ask for an Extension on Loan Repayments for Stadium

09/24/2015 - 09h03

In spite of good attendances throughout the Brazilian football league season, with an average crowd of 32,000, the Arena Corinthians is experiencing some difficulties behind the scenes.

The money for running of the stadium comes from a fund formed by the club and the construction firm Odebrecht. But as Folha has learned, the money in this fund will only cover the instalments on a loan with the Brazilian National Development Bank (BNDES) until November this year - at best.

Since July this year, the fund has had to repay R$5 million a month (USD $1.2 million) of the debt acquired during the construction of the stadium.

To make matters worse, at R$68 million (USD $16.3 million), expenses this year have been higher than expected, while at just R$80 million (USD $19.1 million), revenue has been less than planned, meaning the money has started to run out earlier than anticipated.

According to the original estimates, taking into account just the nine months so far this year, income from sales of property and commercialization of other space should stand at R$218 million (USD $ 54.5 million).

In response, Corinthians and Odebrecht have requested an extension on the loan repayments from the BNDES. They say that they are "in negotiations with [public bank] Caixa for adjustment of loan repayment, within the deadline permitted by the program Pró Copa Arenas."

Through a spokesperson, Caixa said, "the operations in question are protected by banking secrecy, for which reason we are unable to comment."

Translated by TOM GATEHOUSE

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