By Samindra Kunti
October 19 – Flamengo’s chairman Eduardo de Mello wants the club to take management control of Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana stadium to maximise its revenue potential, but is facing opposition from within the sporting club.
One of the most iconic stadiums in the world, the Maracana was built for the 1950 World Cup, but revamped into a state-of-the-art venue for the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2014 FIFA World Cup. In 1950, Brazil suffered the ignominy of losing 1-2 in the final match against Uruguay at the Maracana. Last year, a Mario Gotze goal, deep into extra-time, crowned Germany world champions in Rio de Janeiro.
In the post-World Cup era the Maracana, also a venue for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, has been run by the Consorcio Maracana, formed by Odebrecht, IMX and AEG.
Rio’s leading club Flamengo share the stadium with arch-rivals Fluminense, but are unhappy with the poor economic returns of playing at the Maracana. Flamengo rent the Maracana for an annual fee of €2 million. They split the gate revenue equally with the consortium.
Flamengo have attracted 28,641 fans on average this season per game, with a ticket costing €9.8 on average. Those are positive figures for Flamengo, but the club is feeling increasingly restricted by the contract due to the high fixed costs and feels it is losing revenue. De Mello believes it would be better for Flamengo to take over the Maracana themselves after the contract runs out at the end of 2016.
“The priority is the Maracana,” said de Mello. “It’s not ours, but folks would want it to be. The contract is not advantageous. If the lease is redone or reconsidered the Maracana can be one of the best places in the world. I think we can do it with the current crisis at the Maracana, and at Odebrecht as well.”
If Flamengo’s fails to take over the Maracana, other forces within the club are calling for the construction of a brand-new stadium.
“I have already declared plenty of times that we need to have our own stadium,” said Flamengo vice-president Wallim Vasconcellos, who wants to challenge de Mello for the presidency. “Be it the Maracana or another stadium with a capacity of 45,000 to 50,000. The Maracana depends on the consortium giving in. The bill is endless, the costs are very high.”
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