Maracana improvements to come at a hefty cost

OVERHAULING the world famous Maracana Stadium for the 2014 World Cup and the Rio 2016 Olympics will cost more than $390m, government officials say.

COSTLY CHANGES: A deadline has been set for the completion if improvements to the Maracana Stadium - as has a hefty cost

While a deadline for completion of the work has been set, suggesting a forward step, such a hefty cost will again call into question Brazil's ability to host global sporting events of such magnitude after football's world governing body Fifa hit out at the lack of progress last month.

Fifa warned that Brazil is ‘not on the right path' to host the tournament in a shade over four years' time - two years before the first South American Olympics is scheduled for Rio.

And Fifa secretary general Jerome Valcke issued Brazil with a month to prove they could deliver the stadium improvements required for the World Cup.

"It is amazing that Brazil is already very late. I got a report on the status of the Brazilian stadiums and I have to say it is not very nice," he said in May.

"The stadiums are the basic points we need to have for any World Cup. However in Brazil, for the time being, most of the deadlines have already been exceeded and we have to work on new deadlines.

 "They are proving how difficult it is to hold a World Cup in Brazil, just as it was in South Africa. Brazil is not on the right path. This year there is a presidential election, so almost nothing will happen."