The sale of tickets for the 2016 Olympic Games began Tuesday, but the "deadlock on the use" of the Arena Corinthians "persists, [and] the stadium will not be included in the initial offer," according to Rodrigo Mattos of UOL. São Paulo's choice for Olympic football would be the Arena Corinthians, "the stage for the opening of the 2014 World Cup, but there exists a problem in the costs." The construction of the temporary structures of the arena "would consume at least" R$30M ($9.3M). São Paulo city hall and Brasileiro side Corinthians "have already warned that they would not" pay, and the Rio 2016 organizing committee "also does not plan on financing the necessary adaptations" for the stadium. The São Paulo state government "did not take an official position, but also signaled negatively toward the investment." Among this deadlock, the fans who want to see football at the Games "cannot yet buy tickets for São Paulo." The uncertainty of the city's participation in the event, however, is the main reason why the schedule "has not been disclosed." Football is "among the sports most searched in the first phase of the signup for tickets -- 350,000 people already showed interest in obtaining tickets for the event" (UOL, 3/31).
