Rio 2016: Paperwork blunder places stadium in jeopardy

View of the construction site of the Olympic beach volleyball stadium for the Rio 2016 Olympics at Copacabana beach. Photo / Getty

Construction of the Olympic beach volleyball stadium at Rio's Copacabana beach has been frozen due to an administrative oversight.

Just 50 days away from the start of the Olympics, works have stalled because the company undertaking the project has not asked for "environmental authorisation", The Sun reported.

Daniele Araujo, the press officer for the municipal environment office said: "The freeze period for the works depends on the time the company takes to present the requested documents."

The stadium is due to stand 21m tall - the equivalent to a seven-story building - and cover 62,000m2 on the Copacabana beach, which is a protected area, while it will have a 12,0000 capacity.

Rio mayor Eduardo Paes told Globo's G1 website that it was a minor issue.

"We're always careful in areas such as the beach, which requires special attention," Paes said.

Construction work on the stadium began several weeks ago but the structure suffered damage from high waves on Sunday.

Rio has seen unusually low seasonal temperatures - it was just 8.6 degrees Celsius on Monday morning, the lowest temperature recorded this year, according to weather centre Alerta Rio.

Waves of up to 3.5m are expected and beach users have been warned against swimming or taking part in water sports.

On Saturday, a 6m wave was recorded at the entrance to the Rio bay.
Several Olympic stadiums and arenas have been delayed, most notably the cycling velodrome which faces a race against time to be completed.