Rio de Janeiro’s Engenhão Stadium has been shut down by Rio major Eduardo Paes for the indefinite future. The reason are structural construction problems with the roof of the stadium, which potentially could have put fans’ safety at risk:
“The problem has been identified, but I have not yet been presented with a solution. The stadium will only be reopened when the risk is definitively solved. It could be anything from a month to a year,” Paes said at a press conference on Tuesday.
The closure of Engenhão, the permanent home of Botafogo and regularly used by Fluminense and Flamengo until Maracanã reopens, will have significant effects on the upcoming fixture calender.
Fluminense’s executive director Rodrigo Caetano is waiting for the city of Rio de Janeiro’s government’s official position, he told Globo Esporte: “Not even the Rio de Janeiro FA knows well what happened, we have to see what will be done, as the Fan Statute does not allow changes like that, tickets have already been printed and plans had already been made”.
Vasco da Gama’s São Januário is the only large football venue remaining in the city of Rio de Janeiro for the moment, though various smaller venues are available which will suffice for the remainder of the state championship.
The problems of Engenhão, only opened in 2007, come on top of various other construction problems that surfaced in Brazil’s newly built stadiums in recent months. Part of a wall at the Grêmio Arena collapsed in a goal celebration and installation problems surfaced at the opening of Mineirão.