Power has been restored to the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro ©Getty Images

Power has been restored to the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro after the stadium's managers paid an overdue electricity bill of R$1.3 million (£338,000/$424,000/€400,000).

Light, the city's electricity company, said the lights had been switched back on at the iconic venue, which played host to the Opening and Closing Ceremonies at last year's Olympic and Paralympic Games.

It followed nearly a month of darkness at the stadium as a result of the dispute over the unpaid bill, which covered November, December and January.

However, the company claim that they are still waiting on an overdue payment of R$1.8 million (£468,000/$587,000/€554,000) from the Rio 2016 Organising Committee.

In a statement to Reuters, Light said they were continuing to "negotiate with the Rio 2016 Committee for the payment of electricity bills during the period in which the stadium was used for the Games".

Several issues still remain at the Maracanã, which has fallen into disrepair since the conclusion of the Paralympic Games in September.

The Maracanã Stadium has been neglected since the conclusion of the Olympics and Paralympics last year ©Getty Images
The Maracanã Stadium has been neglected since the conclusion of the Olympics and Paralympics last year ©Getty Images

The stadium, where Brazil’s men won the country’s first-ever Olympic football gold medal, has been hit by vandals, with windows smashed and seats ripped out and dumped in a pile nearby.

Spotty patches of burned-out turf has marked the pitch, while the grass has been allowed to grow far longer than normal.

It was claimed last month that destroyed furniture, holes in the walls and exposed wires are all visible, while electrical outages and a "noticeable smell of mould" were also recorded.

Rio 2016's Olympic legacy has been fiercely criticised in recent weeks after pictures showed a number of the venues used for the Games have been neglected and fallen into disrepair.

The water at one of the warm-up swimming pools has turned orange and the Aquatics Centre is also beginning to crumble, with the images showing the extent of the disintegration at the venue.

The golf course at the Reserva de Marapendi, which cost around $20 million (£16 million/€19 million) to construct, has been shut down and the Olympic Park reportedly remains a "ghost town".

The Olympic Park in Barra di Tijuca has hosted just one event since the end of the Rio 2016 Paralympics on September 18 - a one-day beach volleyball competition, staged at the Olympic Tennis Centre despite the standard of the nearby beaches.