Authorities in Brazil have been urged to act promptly to end the degradation of Rio de Janeiro's iconic Maracana stadium.
Photos published by the Globo newspaper show the venue in a state of disrepair with a bare pitch, hundreds of broken seats, holes in ceilings and piles of unattended rubbish.
Local media reported on Tuesday that the stadium has been looted in the past week with thieves taking statues, televisions and fire extinguishers as officials bicker over who is responsible for paying for the venue's upkeep.
The president of Rio de Janeiro's state football federation, Rubens Lopes, called for an urgent meeting of government officials and the city's top clubs: Flamengo, Fluminense, Bogtafogo and Vasco da Gama to resolve the impasse.
"If there is no immediate intervention by the government to prevent the looting and destruction of the Maracana, perhaps there is no use for our meeting," Lopes said.
Rio's state government and the stadium's operator, Maracana SA, have claimed that the Rio 2016 organizing committee is responsible for covering the stadium's maintenance costs.
But Rio 2026 communications director Mario Andrada said Olympic organizers had met all of their responsibilities.
The Maracana's plight comes less than six months after the venue staged the opening and closing ceremonies of the Rio Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Originally built for the 1950 World Cup, the stadium was redeveloped for the 2014 FIFA World Cup at a cost of more than 500 million US dollars.
source: Xinhua
GMT 01:10 2016 Friday ,30 September
Isinbayeva confident of winning top Russian postGMT 15:59 2016 Tuesday ,27 September
Olympic champion race walker Wang Zhen eyes another gold medal at Tokyo 2020GMT 10:06 2016 Sunday ,18 September
Zhou breaks world record, wins 800m T53 goldGMT 09:45 2016 Sunday ,18 September
Wu wins shot put F57 gold in RioGMT 23:12 2016 Thursday ,15 September
Olympic gold medalist Shi Tingmao credits victory to family and teamMaintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©
Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©
Send your comments
Your comment as a visitor