By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year

June 26 - Estádio do Morumbi is still one of the venues due to stage football during the 2016 Olympics despite the Brazilian organisers having been forced to drop it from the list of grounds for the 2014 World Cup by FIFA due to lack of financial guarantees for renovation, Rio de Janeiro officials have claimed.



Morumbi is one of four stadiums outside Rio due to host matches during the football tournament and there are no current plans to change it, Rio 2016 have told insidethegames.

The dropping of the 75,000-capacity Morumbi from the World Cup was announced earlier this month, ending lengthy controversy over the stadium, owned by local club Sao Paulo.

But Morumbi, built in 1952, has already been approved for the football tournament by FIFA and the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

It is due to host matches along with the Fonte Nova Stadium in Salvador, the Mané Garrincha Stadium in Brasília and the Mineirão Stadium in Belo Horizonte.

Rio's Maracanã Stadium is due to host the finals of the tournament.

A spokesman for Rio 2016 insidethegames: "As of now, Rio 2016 follows the project presented as the proposed football stadia were approved by FIFA and the IOC."

Jerome Valcke, the general secretary of FIFA, said that they would discuss alternatives for the World Cup with Sao Paulo officials.

He said: "How can you imagine that there would be no World Cup stadium or no World Cup matches in Sao Paulo which is the first city in Brazil?"

"Morumbi is out.

"It's good news.

"There is a time you have to stop playing.

"We will have a meeting with the people of Sao Paulo, with the city of Sao Paulo, and I am sure that we will find a solution to play games in Sao Paulo.

"But it's true that to play matches in Sao Paulo we need a stadium."

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