{"id":9752,"date":"2017-01-12T18:27:00","date_gmt":"2017-01-12T18:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/2017\/01\/12\/maracana-jewel-of-rios-olympics-now-languishes-in-disrepair\/"},"modified":"2017-01-12T18:27:00","modified_gmt":"2017-01-12T18:27:00","slug":"maracana-jewel-of-rios-olympics-now-languishes-in-disrepair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/associatednews.us\/content\/maracana-jewel-of-rios-olympics-now-languishes-in-disrepair\/","title":{"rendered":"Maracan\u00e3, Jewel Of Rio's Olympics, Now Languishes In Disrepair"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Colin Dwyer<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\n

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Maracan\u00e3 Stadium, pictured just months ago when it was in its Olympic-level shape for the Rio Games. Hundreds of millions of dollars have gone into renovating the decades-old stadium, a venue that has been described as Brazil’s “soccer cathedral.” Yasuyoshi Chiba\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/strong> hide caption<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Yasuyoshi Chiba\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Maracan\u00e3 Stadium has been a fixture of the Rio de Janeiro skyline for decades. Opened just in time to play host to Brazil’s heartbreak in the 1950 World Cup, it underwent massive renovations to host … well, more heartbreak<\/a> for Brazilians in the 2014 World Cup.<\/p>\n

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Brazilian forward Ademir Marques de Menezes (center) scores during a 7-1 win over Sweden in the 1950 World Cup at Maracan\u00e3 stadium, in Rio de Janeiro. The stadium’s condition more than six decades later is substantially less glorious than in this moment. AFP\/Getty Images<\/strong> hide caption<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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AFP\/Getty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Now the iconic soccer stadium, which also hosted Brazilians’ 2016 Olympic redemption<\/a>, is suffering a heartbreak of a different kind: Rio’s soccer authority says Maracan\u00e3 has fallen into a state of abandonment and disrepair.<\/p>\n

“The worries over the present and the future of the stadium are only increasing,” the Rio de Janeiro Football Federation<\/a> said in a statement, according to multiple media outlets<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Maracan\u00e3 Stadium’s turf is dry, worn and filled with ruts and holes. Those soccer clubs that call the stadium home plan to meet and discuss how to bring Maracan\u00e3 up to game-worthy shape. The question is, who will pay for the repairs? Nacho Doce\/Reuters<\/strong> hide caption<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Nacho Doce\/Reuters<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Since its last official use late last year, windows have been smashed, copper wiring stolen from the walls, seats torn out of their places entirely. Brazilian newspaper O Globo reports<\/a> that looters even took off with a bust of journalist M\u00e1rio Filho, for whom the stadium was given its official name \u2014 Est\u00e1dio Jornalista M\u00e1rio Filho<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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