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The Estádio do Maracanã (Brazilian Portuguese: ), officially Estádio Jornalista Mário Filho, is an open-air stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Owned by the Rio de Janeiro State Government, it is named after the Maracanã neighbourhood in Rio de Janeiro. It was opened in 1950 to host the FIFA World Cup, and in the final game Brazil was beaten 2-1 by Uruguay. Since then, it has mainly been used for football matches between the major football clubs in Rio de Janeiro, including Botafogo, Flamengo, Fluminense and Vasco da Gama. It has also hosted a number of concerts and other sporting events. Although the paid attendance at the final game of the 1950 FIFA World Cup was 199,854, the stadium currently seats 82,238 spectators. It was the main venue of the 2007 Pan American Games, hosting the football final, and the opening and closing ceremonies.
Over time, however, the stadium also has become a multi-character space to receive other events such as shows and games from other sports, such as volleyball. After several works of modernization, the current capacity of the stadium is 82,238 spectators, making it the largest stadium in Brazil and South America.

The Maracanã is currently closed for renovations and upgrades, and will reach a total capacity of around 85,000 spectators in preparations for the 2014 World Cup, the 2016 Summer Olympics and the 2016 Summer Paralympics. The stadium reopening is forecasted for early 2013, in time for the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup.

The official name of the stadium, Mário Filho, was given in honour of the late carioca journalist, brother of Nelson Rodrigues, who stood out in supporting the construction of Maracanã.

The stadiums that will host the 2014 World Cup in Brazil have not been determined. The following list contains the 20 largest stadiums Brazil has to choose from.

Brazil Stadiums
(In order of largest to smallest)
1. Estádio do Maracanã
2. Estádio do Morumbi
3. Estádio Parque do Sabiá
4. Mineirão
5. Castelão (São Luís)
6. Castelão (Fortaleza)

Chief Executive of the 2010 FIFA World Cup Danny Jordaan became the first recipient of the FW de Klerk Goodwill Award, dedicating the honour to the people of South Africa and those who worked closely with him, SABC reports.

The Foundation said it honoured Jordaan for his role in the staging of last year's soccer spectacular in South Africa. The former South African president said Jordaan was chosen for his exemplary contribution to the promotion of goodwill between South Africans.

He further said Jordaan's successful planning and management of the event helped South Africans to show that the country can compete with the best in the international arena.

Danny Jordaan's worst kept secret is out. The 2010 Fifa World Cup local committee chief has definitely hit the campaign trail to win an executive position on the World governing body, Fifa.

This emerged this week when Claysen Monyela, deputy director for public diplomacy said South Africans who seek to participate in influential global decision-making organisations, whether political, sporting or economic, must be encouraged and supported by the government to ensure they achieve those objectives, which in turn will benefit the country.

Elections for two Fifa positions for African candidates takes place in Khartoum, Sudan, three weeks from now, on February 23.

The federal budget will supply 300 billion rubles ($9.6 billion) of funding for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, excluding airports and roads, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said Friday. Experts say some of that funding will help accelerate regional development.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has made it clear that he expects big business to contribute to what some say will be a $20 billion to $50 billion overall tab, with Roman Abramovich and Gazprom as two sources likely to be tapped.

The government clearly understood the scale of the project and will now have to follow through on the financial and organizational commitments made as part of the winning bid.

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Spain midfielder Andres Iniesta’s nerveless finish in extra time delivered a knockout blow to Netherlands in a bruising final to clinch a 1-0 win and their first World Cup triumph at the first African finals.

With a shootout looming, the peerless Iniesta controlled a ball from substitute Cesc Fabregas four minutes from time and found the coolness that had eluded forwards on both sides to fire the ball past the helpless Maarten Stekelenburg.

The Dutch, who ran fuming to referee Howard Webb convinced the goal was illegal on at least two counts, were already down to 10 men following John Heitinga’s red card seven minutes earlier and there was little realistic hope of a comeback.

Spain succeeded in keeping their opponents at arm’s length and their players wept with joy as they celebrated becoming the first European team to win the World Cup on another continent and the first to triumph after losing their opening game.

The United States made a dramatic comeback from two goals down at halftime to draw 2-2 with Slovenia and rescue their World Cup chances on Friday.

Slovenia took a surprise 2-0 lead by halfThe U.S were struggling to match-up in midfield with Birsa causing isolated U.S left-back Carlos Bocanegra all kinds of trouble but they went close to leveling in the 41st minute when Clint Dempsey crossed low to Landon Donovan but Miso Brecko slid in to clear.

But a minute later, the U.S were caught on the break, Milivoje Novakovic split open a flat back line with a superb through ball to Zlatan Ljubijankic who kept his cool and slotted past the advancing Howard.

FRANCE and hosts Bafana Bafana seem on their way out of the 2010 Fifa World Cup after they were crushed 2-0 by ruthless Mexico here last night.

The French could not deal with the Mexican three- pronged strike force and were totally out of their depth.

But the first-half’s pacy and pulsating momentum was expected because both teams were desperate to equal Uruguay at the top of Group A.

But to French coach Raymond Domenech’s probable dismay, the opening stages belonged to Mexico. By the 10th minute Mexico had created four gilt- edged goal scoring.

His rival Javier Aguire’s men were first stopped by the upright in the second minute after some nifty exchanges between Carlos Vela and Giovani Dos Santos.

Johannesburg - From Friday, 28 May, 09h00, there will be around 90,000 additional tickets for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ available for public sale across all 64 matches, including the Final, the Opening Game and the two Semi-Finals. Check Ticket availability by match as on 27 May 2010.

In total there are about 160,000 tickets still available for the public via the current sales channels (FIFA.com, Call Centre, Ticketing Centres, FNB Branches and Shoprite/Checkers). 34,000 of these tickets are available in category 4 (the most affordable for South African residents only), 28,000 in category 3, 23,000 in category 2 and 75,000 in category 1. “For the Final there are only about 800 tickets left, but for other matches it’s up to a few thousands”, explained FIFA Secretary General Jérôme Valcke.

More than 260000 soccer enthusiasts who cannot attend World Cup games need not worry - they will be accommodated at 10 official "fan fests" around the country.

Entrance to these facilities will be free, and fans are encouraged to come early to enjoy the entertainment.

The venues, which will operate on match days, are:

Innesfree Park in northern Johannesburg can accommodate 20000. Close to both Alexandra township and the Sandton CBD, it will be open from 10am. Two park-and-ride facilities will be at Rautenbach Square in Wynberg and at the corner of 8th Avenue and Old Pretoria Main Road in Marlboro.

Johannesburg's second venue is the Elkah Stadium and Soweto Cricket Club, south of the city, which can accommodate 40000. It is next to the Thokoza Park station of the BRT system, and a park-and-ride facility will be available at the nearby Dlamini Multi-Purpose Centre.

Cape Town's party will be at the Grand Parade, which can accommodate 25000. It will be open for 12 hours from 11am. Signs will indicate the walkway from Hertzog Boulevard, and there will be park-and-ride facilities.