Vasco Increasing Capacity And Remodelling Stadium For Olympics

Brasileiro club Vasco will "renovate and increase" the capacity of its São Januário stadium from 25,000 to 43,000, according to the AP. The Rio de Janeiro club has until Wednesday to present the redevelopment plans to the Rio Olympic Organizing Committee if it wants its arena to host the 2016 Olympic rugby sevens tournament, as originally planned. Construction on the stadium "is expected to start only after July '13," when the Maracanã will again be available to Rio teams. This will allow Vasco to play in the Maracanã until construction work at the São Januário is finished. Vasco CEO Luiz Gomes said, "We already wanted to remodel our stadium for some time now, and the Olympics give us a big opportunity to finally do this. We will have an arena ready for the rugby tournament in the 2016 Games, and after this the team will have a completely new stadium." The cost of the project was not revealed, but Gomes said that "Vasco will pay for 60% of the cost, with the rest being covered by investors and sponsors" (AP, 10/29).