A Brazil court on Friday "temporarily suspended a contract won Thursday by Consortium Maracanã SA" to operate Rio de Janeiro's Maracanã stadium, according to Jeffrey T. Lewis of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. The court injunction came one day after the consortium -- backed by Anschutz Entertainment Group, Brazilian construction group Odebrecht and sports and entertainment company IMX -- won a 35-year deal to run the stadium. Judge Gisele Guida de Faria "suspended the contract," pending a final court decision, at the request of the Rio state prosecutor's office because of indications of "the presence of illegalities that contaminated" the bidding process, according to the order published on the website of the Rio de Janeiro state judiciar (WSJ, 5/10). XINHUA reported Consortium Maracanã defeated a group "comprising Brazilian constructor OAS, French company Lagardere and Stadion Amsterdam." According to court documents filed by prosecutors, Consortium Maracanã "was given an advantage in the tender after IMX had been chosen to provide a viability study for the concession" (XINHUA, 5/11). BLOOMBERG's Panja & Spinetto reported the consortium agreed to pay 5.5M reais ($2.7M) annually for the concession, or 192.5M reais ($95.1M) in total. Odebrecht holds a 90% stake in the venture, with IMX and AEG controlling 5% each. The group said that "it planned to invest" 594M reais ($293M) on the complex (BLOOMBERG, 5/10).
