Maracana Disrepair Descends Into Looting

(ATR) Rio de Janeiro’s Maracanã Stadium is being pillaged as a standoff over the operation of the venue shows no sign of ending.

A statement from the Rio de Janeiro State Football Federation (FFERJ) says it has received reports looting of "fire extinguishers, hoses, televisions, and historical busts," this morning. One of the busts stolen was one of journalistMário Filho, according to reports from Brazilian news outlet G1. The stadium bears Filho's name.

FFERJ has appealed to the Rio state government and Maracanã SA, the consortium in charge of the stadium’s operations, over the matter.

In one week the FFERJ is supposed to meet with the city’s major clubs to discuss using the stadium for the 2017 Rio State Football Championships. The championship is set to begin tomorrow and run through May 7. Rio’s big four football clubs - Botafogo, Flamengo, Fluminense, and Vasco da Gama - all use the stadium for marquee matches but do not begin play until Jan. 25.

"If there is no immediate intervention by the government to prevent the looting and destruction of Maracanã," Rubens Lopes, FFERJ president, said in the statement. "Perhaps there is no use for our meeting."

On Jan. 5 Brazilian news organization Globo visited the stadium and described it as derelict. Globo found that power to the stadium had been cut off, and the pitch had begun to die due to lack of irrigation. In the week since the visit, more pictures have emerged from Brazilian media showing a further degradation of the pitch.

Maracanã SA was supposed to reassume control of the stadium on Oct. 30 after Rio 2016 had finished using the venue for the Olympic Games. A spokesperson for consortium told Around the Rings last week it has not reassumed control and will not do so until Rio 2016 completes its "Term of Authorization of Use" for the stadium. The spokesperson said that the consortium has sent a list of TAU "nonconformities" to both Rio 2016 and the Rio State government. Maracanã SA says it is seeking arbitration to resolve the issue to avoid a lawsuit.

Rio 2016 acknowledged that it needs to complete repairs on the venue but the repairs are non-essential for the operation of the stadium. Rio 2016 director of communications Mario Andrada told ATR no deadline was given for the repairs, and the organizing committee had already agreed to the repairs.

"We agreed to do [the repairs], but before [doing them] we need to finish paying everybody that we need to pay," Andrada told ATR. "We returned the stadium in much better state than we received it."

Andrada says the repairs total around $124,580 (R$400,000). From March to October Rio 2016 invested $620,000 to upgrade the escalators, elevators, and lighting for the stadium.

A Rio state government spokesperson told ATR that "the responsibility for the operation of the Complex is Maracanã SA" but the government continues to work to resolve the ongoing dispute.

"The State Government will take all legal measures to repair the damage caused to Maracanã during the Olympic Games," the spokesperson said. "It is worth mentioning that the State notified the Rio 2016 Committee on two occasions to resolve the problems."

Written by Aaron Bauer

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