Brazil's historic Maracana has electricity supply cut off as world-famous stadium falls into disrepair

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

Brazil's historic Maracana stadium, which most recently hosted the 2014 World Cup final and the opening ceremony of the 2016 Olympics but is one of football's spiritual homes, was plunged into darkness on Thursday after Light, the energy provider for the stadium, cut off the electricity supply due to unpaid bills.

"Light cut the power to the Maracana this morning," a statement from the power company said. "The bills are behind since October."

The total debt is around 3 million reais (£800,000) with 1.3 million owed by the current owners, a consortium led by construction company Odebrecht, Light said. Another 1.7 million is owed by the organisers of Rio 2016.

The Olympic organising committee, who had control of the stadium in September and October, are negotiating their part of the bill, the electricity company added.

The stadium is one of the most famous in the world. It hosted the final of the 2014 World Cup when Germany beat Argentina and also hosted the final match of the 1950 tournament when Uruguay beat Brazil 2-1 to lift the trophy.

But, as with other stadia built for the 2014 World Cup, it has fallen into disrepair. The Arena da Amazônia in Manaus, where England played their opening game at the World Cup three years ago, is a white elephant while the Estadio Mane Garrincha in the capital, Brasilia, has been turned into a de facto bus station.