Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: 2 June, 2013: The iconic Maracanã Stadium was re-opened this Sunday with a 2-2 draw between Brazil and England at an international friendly match. It was the 78,000-seat venue first official, full-capacity game after a first test event held in late April before a reduced crowd of 21,000 construction workers involved in the renovation, plus their friends and family.
The first test event was an exhibition match between two teams of football legends of the past, each headed by a World Cup winner - Ronaldo and Bebeto – with authorities in attendance including the Brazil President Dilma Rousseff, Vice-President Michel Temer, Rio de Janeiro State Governor Sergio Cabral, Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes and the President of the Rio 2016™ Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Carlos Nuzman.
This Sunday was about stars of the present like Neymar and Wayne Rooney showcasing their talent ahead of this month’s FIFA Confederations Cup and next year’s FIFA World Cup, both of which to have their finals staged at the very same stadium.
The re-vamped Maracanã will host the Olympic football finals and the Opening and Closing Ceremonies at the Rio 2016™ Olympics and Paralympics.
Renovations began in August 2010 and transformed the Maracanã into a modern and comfortable stadium, with all 78,838 seats numbered. The venue now has five floors divided into four sectors: North, South, East and West.
With the overhaul, the upper and lower tiers were unified, forming a single stand that had its inclination increased. The stadium now has five different types of seats: general seating, special seating, premium, box seating and VIP box seating. The seats are around 50cm wide and retractable, in compliance with the Brazilian Association of Technical Standards. There are also seats for the obese and areas for the mobility impaired.
New accesses were created with four extra ramps added to the two original monumental ramps that were renovated and re-activated. Moreover, there are a total 17 new lifts and 12 escalators allowing the stadium to be evacuated in eight to 12 minutes, meeting a FIFA requirement.
The new tensile roof is made of fibreglass and Teflon and is 68-metre long. The field of play will be lit by 396 floodlights for better visibility in any given area of the pitch. The new Maracanã will also be lit in a festival of colours thanks to the computer-controlled LED lighting. As determined by FIFA, pitch dimensions were reduced to 105m x 68m.
A new control and security centre was implemented with the Building Management System consisting of three rooms from which fans with suspicious behaviour can be detected amongst huge crowds and the stadium’s mechanical and electric equipment can be controlled. Furthermore, the venue will be granted environmental certification as the project followed the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) guidance from Brazil’s Green Building Council, in compliance with international standards.
Of the five Rio 2016™ football competition venues, the Maracanã Stadium is the fourth to be re-opened after extensive renovations for the Confederations Cup and the World Cup. The Mineirão Stadium, in Belo Horizonte, re-opened in December last year. Fonte Nova Arena’s re-inauguration took place in Salvador in April and was followed by Brasilia’s Mané Garrincha National Stadium in May. São Paulo will be the fifth and final city to host the Olympic football tournament.
For more information contact: Rio 2016™ Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games
www.rio2016.com
Media Relations
mediarelations@rio2016.com
Tel: (55 21) 2016 5320
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