Brazil judge suspends 'privatisation' of Maracanã stadium

By Tom Etherington.

A judge in Brazil has suspended a controversial decision to hand the Maracanã stadium over to a consortium of private companies.

Judge Gisela Faria ruled there had been irregularities in the bidding process as one of the companies behind the winning bid had an unfair advantage.

On Thursday, the Rio de Janeiro state authorities announced a group that includes one of the country's richest men, Eike Batista, had won the chance to manage the stadium for the next 35 years.

However, one of Mr Batista’s companies, IMX, produced a viability study in the earlier stages of the process.

"Even before the bids were put forward, the principle of fairness among the competitors had been disregarded," Judge Faria said in her ruling.

The legal action to stop the process was brought by Rio's Prosecutor's Office, which also challenged what it said was the unnecessary demolition of the athletics stadium and an Olympic swimming pool next to the Maracanã.

State governor Sergio Cabral had said on Thursday the bidding process "has been approved by the legal authorities" and was "perfectly legal".

But Judge Faria said the Rio authorities must now wait for a final ruling on the legality of the bidding process before allowing any company to take over the stadium.

The whole bidding process for the stadium has been controversial, with campaigners protesting what they saw as the privatisation after three years of costly renovation work.

The Brazilian government has spent more than $500 million (£320m) of public money to revamp the stadium in preparation for the 2014 World Cup – in which it will host the final.

Source: Sambafoot: http://www.sambafoot.com/en/news/46790_brazil_judge_suspends__privatisation__of_maracana_stadium.html