The stadium laid dormant in the months after the 2016 Olympics and Paralympics, with photos surfacing in early 2017 of a dried up playing field covered in brown spots and missing turf, ripped-out seats, and damage to windows and doors. A debt of R$3 million ($939,937 USD) to the local energy company led to power being shut off at Maracanã. At the heart of the issue is a legal wrangling between the stadium's owner, operator and the organizing committee for the Rio Olympics over responsibility for maintaining the grounds. Maracanã SA, the operator, charges that the Olympic committee did not return the venue in an acceptable condition, while the committee says the things they need to fix should not keep Maracanã from operating.[16]
Within six months of the games, daily tours of the stadium were halted due to vandalism at the stadium and violent robberies in the area. Items of value have been looted from the stadium including fire extinguishers, televisions and a bronze bust of journalist Mário Filho, for whom the stadium was named.[17][18]
New managers[edit]
On 5 April 2017, the French group Lagardère signed an agreement to administer the Maracanã. In total, Lagardère will invest more than R$500 million by the end of the concession, won by Odebrecht in 2013 and valid until 2048. The Folha de São Paulo newspaper informed that the group estimates that it will need to spend about R$15 million on emergency reforms at the stadium. In 2013, the former managers of Odebrecht together with AEG and IMX, a company owned by Brazilian billionaire Eike Batista, won the bid to manage the stadium for 35 years. The company was associated with Brazilian building company OAS and the Amsterdam Arena. At the time, Lagardère was in second place in the bidding.[19]
The stadium laid dormant in the months after the 2016 Olympics and Paralympics, with photos surfacing in early 2017 of a dried up playing field covered in brown spots and missing turf, ripped-out seats, and damage to windows and doors. A debt of R$3 million ($939,937 USD) to the local energy company led to power being shut off at Maracanã. At the heart of the issue is a legal wrangling between the stadium's owner, operator and the organizing committee for the Rio Olympics over responsibility for maintaining the grounds. Maracanã SA, the operator, charges that the Olympic committee did not return the venue in an acceptable condition, while the committee says the things they need to fix should not keep Maracanã from operating.[16]
Within six months of the games, daily tours of the stadium were halted due to vandalism at the stadium and violent robberies in the area. Items of value have been looted from the stadium including fire extinguishers, televisions and a bronze bust of journalist Mário Filho, for whom the stadium was named.[17][18]
New managers[edit]