September 9 - Rio de Janeiro's Maracana Stadium, which is due to stage the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2016 Olympics as well as the 2014 World Cup final, has been closed down for two years to be undergo a major $300 million (£175 million) renovation.



A goalless draw between local club Flamengo and Santos on Sunday (September 5) was the last match in the arena ahead of the overhaul.

The renovated Maracana is due to reopen in time to host matches in the 2013 Confederations Cup, a major warm-up event for the following year's World Cup.

The Maracana was built for the 1950 World Cup and was the site where Brazil lost the deciding match for the trophy 2-1 against Uruguay.

Brazil legend Pele scored his first national team goal and his 1,000th career goal there.

The original Maracana was the world's largest stadium with a capacity of 200,000 but that was reduced to 88,000 over the years.

The renovated arena - with new entries and exits to meet security standards of world governing body FIFA, bars, restaurants and a big media centre - will seat around 82,000.


Related stories
December 2009: Maracana to be given £175 million makeover before Rio 2016