Maracana stadium could be rebuilt for 2014 World cup

From Football World Cup Web
One of the World's most famous stadiums, the Maracana stadium which was initially ruled out as a venue for the 2014 World Cup that Brazil is bidding to host, is back in the running again.

Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) president Ricardo Teixeira, who once suggested the historic but troubled stadium should be imploded has now said that he had changed his mind.

"We had tried several times before now to get some sort of confirmation from the state government that the necessary modifications would be made but that did not happen," Teixeira told reporters after a lunch with Sergio Cabral, governor of Rio de Janeiro state which owns the stadium.

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Italian World Cup winners to receive "Cavaliere Ufficiale"

From China View

ROME, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- The 23 soccer players who won the 2006 World Cup for Italy will be awarded the 'Cavaliere Ufficiale,' one of the country's highest public service decorations, the Italian football federation said on Saturday.

The team will receive their honors from Italian president Giorgio Napolitano in Rome on Monday.

The Cavaliere Ufficiale, or Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, was instituted in 1951 and is given to individuals for distinguished services for their country.

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