By IANS
Rio de Janeiro : A study ordered by Rio’s state government showed that a “joint administration” comprising two local clubs and the Brazilian football confederation CBF would be the best management choice for the Maracana Stadium, informally chosen as venue for the 2014 FIFA World Cup final, reports Xinhua.
The Rio government hired US consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton to develop a study on the financial viability of the stadium’s management in order to prepare a public bidding process that will take place in November.
According to the State Secretary of Sports, Tourism and Leisure Eduardo Paes, the report showed that it was not viable to have only one football club run the 89,000-seater Maracana.
Flamengo, whose football team has the most numerous fans in Brazil, has announced a consortium with the Bonham Group and AEG Worldwide to fight for exclusive rights to manage the historic stadium.
“It is impossible for only one club to run the stadium up to the World Cup and adjust it to FIFA’s requirements. Flamengo’s board of directors will have to understand,” Paes told the media Wednesday.
Booz Allen Hamilton also stated that the “joint administration” would be economically viable to “at least two big clubs in Rio — Flamengo and Fluminense”.
CBF’s participation in the Maracana management is regarded as “essential” since the confederation controls all rights related to the country’s five-time world champion national team.
Additionally, the confederation’s leverage with FIFA would help the arena host the Museum of Football, one step ahead in the project to turn the Maracana into the “World Temple of Football” by 2014.
The Maracana has undergone recent reforms that cost 200 million reais ($115 million), but the consulting firm estimated that the necessary reforms for the Cup would take another 40 million reais ($23 million).
It will be the first time that the historic stadium, which hosted the only World Cup final held in Brazil in 1950, will be managed by private associates. Since inauguration, it has been run by the local administration.