In the article reported below, just after the end of the Pan American Games, there is a short but interesting refer (in bold) to the Brazil 2008 Futsal World Cup. According to the source there will be only three cities instead of nine hosting the tournament, including Rio de Janeiro.


Courtesy: People Daily's on line

Rio will host five international events following Pan Am Games


According to Rio de Janeiro's city mayor Cesar Maia, the facilities especially built or renovated for the Pan American Games, which ended on Sunday, are scheduled to host at least five upcoming international sports events.

The mayor informed that the first "after-Pan Am" international competition will be the World Judo Championships, in Sept. 2007. The fights will take place at the Multipurpose Sports Arena, located in the complex named City of Sports, also comprised of the Maria Lenk Aquatic Park, the Barra Velodrome and the Nelson Piquet Auto Track.

In October, the Maria Lenk will host the World Synchronized Swimming Championship. In the same month, Rio will serve as venue to the Masters Table Tennis Championship, at the Riocentro Sports Complex, not far from the City of Sports complex.

In Feb. next year, a world badminton open championship will be held in the city, in the Multipurpose Arena, also known as Olympic Arena, where the biggest part of the matches of the FIFA World Futsal Cup will to be played in Oct. 2008. Maia added that the futsal tournament, originally expected to be held in nine different Brazilian cities, will rely on only two other spots, apart from Rio.

The City Mayor stressed that all the events have been confirmed.

Altogether, the municipal government spent 1.1 billion reais (585 million U.S. dollars) in the construction of the arena, the velodrome, the aquatic center and the Joao Havelange Olympic Stadium, the only one that relies on a football court and athletics facilities at the same spot in the city.

The Maracana Stadium and the Maracanazinho Gymnasium also underwent reforms for the Pan Am Games, but they are run by Rio's state government.

Source: Xinhua



Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com