Football officials in Rio de Janeiro have called on police to "take urgent action" to stop what they called "the destruction of the Maracana" after valuables were looted from the "famous old stadium," according to Andrew Downie of REUTERS. The Rio de Janeiro Football Federation said in a statement that "fire extinguishers, hoses, televisions and even a bust of Mario Filho, the journalist after whom the stadium was named, were among the items stolen." The federation said, "The worries over the present and the future of the stadium are only increasing." O Globo reported windows inside the stadium "were smashed, doors will not shut properly, and copper wiring has been stolen from walls and ceilings." The federation has "arranged to meet with the city's clubs on Jan. 17 to discuss what to do about managing the stadium," but federation President Ruben Lopes said that "more urgent action is required or that meeting will be too late." Lopes: "If there is not an immediate government intervention to stop the looting and the destruction of the Maracanã then it might not even be worth meeting on the 17th" (REUTERS, 1/10).
