Built for the 2007 Pan American Games, Rio side Botafogo - one of the city's Big Four - have called Rio Stadium home ever since. With the closure of the Maracanã for rebuilding ahead of the 2014 World Cup, the Estadio Olímpico João Havelange, to give it its full title (so named after the FIFA President 1974-1998), also became the de facto ground for Flamengo and Fluminense's home games until the stadium's closure in March 2013 as a result of serious structural problems.

Criticisms of the ground had already been levelled from many quarters, with fans complaining of a lack of atmosphere and huge traffic jams for midweek games, and its closure has been an embarrassment for the authorities, leaving the city without an adequate football stadium a year before the World Cup comes to town. There is still no official statement as to when the stadium will reopen, but it is likely to be well into the 2013 season.