Brazil’s iconic Maracana is being used as a hospital for coronavirus patients

By Ed McCambridge
published

The home of Brazilian football is being readied for an all more noble purpose, with thousands of patients expected to be treated at the famous stadium

Pele, Zico, Garrincha, Romario, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Neymar - we could go all day - are just a handful of the iconic names to have called the Maracanã home down the years. Brazil’s largest football stadium has seen 200,000-strong crowds, World Cup finals and the Olympics, and is invariably included on the bucket lists of football fans around the world. 

But it is expecting visitors of a different kind over the coming months, with thousands of COVID-19 patients to be treated at the 80,000 seater venue, which is regularly used by Rio-based clubs Santos and Corinthians as well as the national team. 

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Ed McCambridge
Ed McCambridge
Staff Writer

Ed is a staff writer at FourFourTwo, working across the magazine and website. A German speaker, he’s been working as a football reporter in Berlin since 2015, predominantly covering the Bundesliga and Germany's national team. Favourite FFT features include an exclusive interview with Jude Bellingham following the youngster’s move to Borussia Dortmund in 2020, a history of the Berlin Derby since the fall of the Wall and a celebration of Kevin Keegan’s playing career.