Two stadiums that hosted matches in Brazil’s 2014 World Cup tournament have finally been finished, 10 months after the competition ended.
The two are the Itaquerão Stadium in São Paulo, which hosted the opening game, and the Arena da Baixada in Curitiba.
The Itaquerão is the home ground of the Corinthians football team, and attendance has increased in the period after the World Cup. The additional revenue has been used to fund continuing construction work. Among the late additions are a glass structure that covers the arena’s roof, which was fitted last month.
Among the games that the $450m stadium hosted was England’s loss to Uruguay.
The Arena da Baixada has just completed its retractable roof, an element that was omitted before the tournament owing to time constraints.
Shares in two other stadiums that hosted matches in the World Cup have been put up for sale. These belonged to contractor OAS, which recently filed for bankruptcy after being caught up in the Petrobras kickback scandal. The two grounds affected are the Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador and the Arena das Dunas in Natal. Â
In total, Brazil spent $3bn on the construction of World Cup grounds, stating that they would a legacy for the country.
The Arena da Baixada in March 2014 (Wikimedia Commons)
In other World Cup news, Qatar is considering building a $30m studio in the centre of an aquarium, from which coverage of the 2022 World Cup will be broadcast.
Amnesty International has said the pledges Qatar made last year to reform its labour laws are at risk of being dismissed as a PR stunt to ensure the state can cling on to the tournament.
Top image: A Brazilian government graphic from 2011 of what the Itaquerão Stadium was meant to look like for the opening game (Wikimedia Commons)
