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Rio is stuck with big bills and vacant venues after Olympics

This Feb. 2, 2017 photo shows Maracana stadium's dry playing field in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The stadium was renovated for the 2014 World Cup at a cost of about $500 million, and largely abandoned after the Olympics and Paralympics, then hit by vandals who ripped out thousands of seats and stole televisions. (AP Photo/Mario Lobao)
This Feb. 2, 2017 photo shows Maracana stadium's dry playing field in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The stadium was renovated for the 2014 World Cup at a cost of about $500 million, and largely abandoned after the Olympics and Paralympics, then hit by vandals who ripped out thousands of seats and stole televisions. (AP Photo/Mario Lobao)

By Associated Press 6 min read

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – Rio de Janeiro pulled off last year’s Olympics, keeping crime at bay and fending off dire forecasts of corruption, environmental degradation, and cost overruns.

Six months after South America’s first games, the flood gates have burst open.

Rio organizers still owe creditors about $40 million. Four of the new arenas in the main Olympic Park have failed to find private-sector management, and ownership has passed to the federal government. Another new arena will be run by the cash-strapped city with Brazil stuck in its deepest recession in decades.

The historic Maracana stadium, site of the opening and closing ceremony, has been vandalized as stadium operators, the Rio state government, and Olympic organizers have fought over $1 million in unpaid electricity bills. The electric utility reacted by cutting off all power to the city landmark.

There are few players for a new $20 million Olympic golf course, and little money for upkeep. Deodoro, the second-largest cluster of Olympic venues, is closed and searching for a management company.