Zenit Arena stadium (43 photos). Zenit Arena Stadium (43 photos) New St. Petersburg stadium

In 2010, Metallica was supposed to perform at the Zenit arena.

According to Mikhail Zhvanetsky, repairs cannot be completed - only stopped. Perhaps the most striking example of this is the construction of Krestovsky.

As the famous satirist Mikhail Zhvanetsky used to say, repairs cannot be completed - only stopped. Perhaps the most striking example of this is the construction of a stadium on Krestovsky Island. We present the chronology of the construction of the most high-profile football long-term construction in Russia - from the idea of ​​​​creation to the present day.

March 2005 “The Kirov Stadium in St. Petersburg will be demolished”
The first reports about the construction of a new arena on the site of the stadium. CM. Kirov, located on Krestovsky Island, appeared more than 10 years ago. Then we were talking about a stadium, the approximate cost of which would be $ 150 million, and the capacity would be 50,000 spectators.

April 2005 “Zenith’s new stadium will be built according to the Manchester model”
The concept of the future stadium has been unveiled. It was assumed that the prototype for it would be the arena project in Manchester, created by the English company Arup. General Director of State Unitary Enterprise "Stadium named after. CM. Kirov" Demid Momot later criticized the idea of ​​an open stadium in Russian climatic conditions. And then a member of the board of OJSC Gazprom Valery Golubev reported that the stadium in Dortmund could become a model for the stadium. The management of Gazprom JSC also clarified the cost of construction. Over six months, the figure grew by almost 70% – to $250 million.

January 2006 The stadium is promised to be built by 2009

According to the head of the St. Petersburg Sports Committee, Vyacheslav Chazov, he is 1,000,000% sure that the Gazprom Arena (that’s what it was supposed to be called) will appear on the site of the stadium. Kirov by 2009. However, experts predict that these deadlines will be pushed back repeatedly.

April 2006 When will construction start?
According to the Vice-Governor of St. Petersburg Alexander Vakhmistrov, construction of a new stadium for Zenit will begin at the end of 2006, immediately after the dismantling of the Kirov stadium, which is planned to be completed in November. “At the same time, we plan to sign a construction agreement with the general contractor,” Vakhmistrov said.

July 2006 Projects for a new stadium in St. Petersburg presented
An exhibition of developed architectural solutions (pre-design proposals) for the stadium has opened in St. Petersburg. It presented projects developed by the winners of the first stage of the competition, including Kisho Kurokawa architect & associates (Japan).

The Japanese proposed a stadium project shaped like a spaceship. The roof, measuring 200x90 meters, is made of polymer material, supported by metal masts and equipped with a special mechanism that blows hot air, which helps melt the snow. The Japanese estimated the cost of their construction at just over $225 million. It was this project that was highlighted among others by the former president of Zenit, Sergei Fursenko.

December 2006 The builder of the new FC Zenit stadium became known
The builder of the stadium was the St. Petersburg company SINTEZ-SUI LLC, which offered to carry out all the work for 6 billion 664 million 308 thousand 170 rubles.

March 2007 “Zenith Stadium will be built before the end of 2008”
At a meeting with the participation of the Governor of St. Petersburg Valentina Matvienko It was announced that the construction of the arena on Krestovsky Island would end on December 30, 2008, and next season the team would be able to play home matches at the new stadium. At the same time, the project’s customers still haven’t decided what type of sports arena to build – retractable or non-retractable. “Based on the difficult weather conditions in St. Petersburg, experts believe that a retractable field can greatly increase the cost of the project, but not give the effect we want. We need to weigh everything,” Matvienko said.

April 2007 Matvienko: at the new Zenit stadium the field will be retractable
Governor of St. Petersburg Valentina Matvienko said that the new Zenit football stadium on Krestovsky Island will have a retractable field. No comments needed.

September 2007 “Construction of the Zenit stadium is ahead of schedule”
Vice-Governor of St. Petersburg Alexander Vakhmistrov told reporters that the construction of the new Zenit stadium on Krestovsky Island is ahead of schedule: “The end of the construction period has not changed, approximately December 2008. We hope that Zenit will play the first matches of the 2009 season at the new stadium.”

March 2008 “Gazprom will be asked for money for a new stadium for Zenit”
President of the RFU Vitaly Mutko reported that construction of the arena may become more expensive. To implement the project, Gazprom may be attracted as an additional investor.

April 2008 “The commissioning of the new Zenit stadium has been postponed for a year”
“The stadium is unlikely to be put into operation in 2009,” says the president of Zenit. Alexander Dyukov. - In the future, maybe in 2010. At the moment, the project to build a stadium on Krestovsky costs approximately 13-14 billion rubles, instead of the previously announced 6.67 billion. This is due to rising prices for the cost of work and materials, as well as the characteristics of the soil. In addition, the price included the dismantling of the old Kirov Stadium.”

July 2008 “The new Zenit stadium has risen in price by 3.5 times”
After the estimate was approved, the price of the new football arena in St. Petersburg increased 3.5 times to 23.7 billion rubles. It is reported that if there is not enough budget money, Gazprom, which controls FC Zenit, will join in the financing. According to the official estimate prepared by Glavgosexpertiza, the football stadium on Krestovsky Island will cost 23.7 billion rubles. Now it is planned to increase the arena's capacity to 62,000 spectators.

December 2008 “Inzhtransstroy will undertake the construction of the Zenit stadium”
In November last year, the St. Petersburg Construction Committee terminated the government contract with the previous construction contractor, the Avant company, and in December concluded a new one with ZAO Engineering Corporation Transstroy, owned by Oleg Deripaska. The cost of the contract amounted to 13 billion 22 million 282 thousand rubles with the original price of 18 billion 603 million 260 thousand. The reduction in the starting price was 30%.

April 2009 Metallica will perform in St. Petersburg at the opening of a new stadium"
News agencies report that the legendary American band Metallica will perform in St. Petersburg in 2010 at the opening of a new stadium on Krestovsky Island. Metallica will present their latest album Death Magnetic.

December 2009 Stadium does not meet FIFA standards
After checking the stadium project for compliance with FIFA requirements, it turned out that according to a number of criteria, the stadium already under construction does not meet FIFA standards. The main complaints were made about the configuration of the stands (ensuring comfortable visibility, location of hatches) and the layout of the sub-tribune rooms, which were divided by thick walls into small compartments. There were practically no halls or open spaces inside.

February 2010 Zenit Stadium will become larger and more expensive
Chairman of the Construction Committee of the St. Petersburg Administration Vyacheslav Semenenko announced the decision to expand the stadium. “Since the city received a proposal from the bid committee to host the semi-final match of the World Cup, we asked all participants: either we continue construction with minor adjustments to the project, or we suspend work and change the project so that the new stadium meets all UEFA requirements and FIFA. But this will require additional funding,” Semenenko said. Thus, the new version of the stadium must accommodate at least 67,000 people.

April 2010 The construction time for the Zenit stadium is still increasing
Due to adjustments to the budget of St. Petersburg, the project to build a football stadium on Krestovsky Island lost 1.5 billion rubles. For this reason, the timing of the commissioning of the new arena of the St. Petersburg Zenit has again undergone changes. Head of the Budget and Financial Committee of the Legislative Assembly Vladimir Barkanov stated that this would result in an increase in the cost of the project.

December 2010 Redesign of the new arena in St. Petersburg is completed
Zenit President Alexander Dyukov announced that the redesign of the new arena in St. Petersburg has been completed. Now the stadium will accommodate 68,000 spectators.

January 2011 Builders were in a hurry - the roof is being dismantled
The construction timeline for the new Zenit stadium has again been revised to November 2012. The conclusion of the Glavgosexpertiza on the redevelopment was received by construction organizations three months later than expected, so the builders, who rushed to start work, were faced with the need to dismantle the roof of the future arena. Amendments by Glavgosexpertiza inevitably led to an increase in construction costs, which by that time had already been revised five times.

In addition, as the Vice-Governor of St. Petersburg Roman Filimonov said, the cost of the Zenit stadium has increased. Compared to the previous estimate, construction work has risen in price by 8.4 billion rubles, and now the total cost of the stadium has increased to 33 billion rubles ($1.1 billion).

February 2011 The new Zenit stadium fell in price from 33 billion to 28.7 billion
The final estimate for the stadium was not 33 billion, which was announced at the end of January, but 28.7 billion. The contractor Inzhtranstroy gave a discount.

July 2011 Zenit wants to start the 2013/14 season in a new arena
General Director of Zenit Maxim Mitrofanov: “We expect this: if construction really ends in November 2012, then approximately six months will be spent on various commissioning works, installation of technological and catering equipment. We would like to start the 2013/14 season in a new arena.”

October 2011 “The constructed part of the stadium will have to be partially redone”
The change in design was caused by the fact that the customer, the construction committee of the government of St. Petersburg, decided to make a different roof two months after transferring the documentation to Mosproekt-4. Mosproekt-4 initially designed a sliding structure that should only cover the stands. And the customer wanted the roof to cover the entire stadium along with the field. And these are completely different loads on beams, columns and foundations. It will take another 12 to 18 months to install the roof.

November 2011 New project deadline and new estimate
The final completion date for the new stadium for Zenit on Krestovsky Island is 2013. This was announced by the Governor of St. Petersburg Georgy Poltavchenko during a joint meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak at the construction site of the future sports arena. Information also appeared that the price of the stadium could increase from 33 billion rubles to 40 billion rubles ($1.3 billion).

January 2013 Construction readiness of the Zenit stadium is 34.4%
At this point, the construction readiness of the facility is 34.4%. As of November 1, 2012, expenditures from the budget of St. Petersburg were made to finance the construction of a football stadium in the amount of 14,417.1 million rubles, while accounts receivable amounted to 3,759.8 million rubles.

February 2013 The Investigative Committee took over the stadium
The Main Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for St. Petersburg confirmed the fact that a criminal case had been initiated regarding fraud during the construction of a stadium for Zenit on Krestovsky Island. We are talking about the work of the first contractor on the project - Sintez-Sui LLC, which later changed its name to Avant LLC, which at the end of 2006 entered into a contract with the construction committee of the government of St. Petersburg. In the subcontract agreements concluded, the cost of work was inflated by more than 500 million rubles.

March 2013 The new Zenit stadium is promised to be completed no later than July 2016
Head of the St. Petersburg Capital Construction Fund Roman Skladnev reported that the installation of the stadium roof for Zenit on Krestovsky Island in St. Petersburg will begin in the second or third quarter of 2014, and all monolithic work will be completed in the fourth quarter of the same year. According to him, 21 months will pass from the start of roof installation to the stadium’s commissioning.

June 2013 The new Zenit stadium is currently 35% completed
After six years of work on Krestovsky Island, the new Zenit stadium, which will host matches at Russia's home 2018 FIFA World Cup, is about a third complete. Vice-Governor of St. Petersburg Marat Oganesyan, meanwhile, believes that, despite the problems with the construction of the stadium on Krestovsky Island, the city is the leader in preparation among Russian cities that will host the 2018 World Cup.

April 2014 Zenit Arena will be put into operation on June 15, 2016
Perhaps now the fans can breathe easy? Vice-Governor of St. Petersburg Marat Oganesyan announced the exact opening date of the Zenit Arena stadium on Krestovsky Island. In April, construction of the stadium's roof began. Zenit President Alexander Dyukov later noted that such a forecast looks realistic.

Oganesyan ruled out the possibility of increasing costs for the construction of a stadium on Krestovsky Island. According to him, the final cost of the facility will be 34.9 billion rubles and “not a penny more.”

October 2014 Construction in St. Petersburg will still be completed by Transstroy
Transstroy, the general contractor of the new Zenit stadium on Krestovsky Island in St. Petersburg, won a competition worth 9.129 billion rubles to complete the construction of the arena. All that remains is to install the retractable roof, roll-out pitch, engineering systems, finishing, installation and commissioning of arena equipment.

December 2014 Alluvium for another 2.33 billion rubles
The State Order Committee of St. Petersburg has announced a tender for the creation of an artificial land plot in the area of ​​Krestovsky Island for the construction of a stadium for the 2018 World Cup. The volume of allocated funds will amount to almost 2.33 billion rubles, according to the procurement portal.

March 2015 The case of the theft of 145 million rubles from the arena was closed years ago
Vasileostrovsky District Court dismissed the criminal case against Sergei Gerliman, who was accused of illegally cashing out 145 million rubles stolen during the construction of the Zenit Arena. The reason for the decision was the expiration of the statute of limitations.

April 2015 Arena construction worker was shot and killed
As a result of the conflict at the Zenit Arena stadium under construction on Krestovsky Island in St. Petersburg, a construction worker received gunshot wounds to the head. The day before, a concrete mixer arrived at the construction site. Having unloaded, the driver began to wash the car, after which an employee approached him and made a remark. Presumably, after a verbal conflict, the driver took out a traumatic pistol and shot in the direction of his opponent three times, hitting him in the head twice.

November 2015 The first match at Krestovsky will be held in September 2016
Chairman of the Construction Committee Mikhail Demidenko reported that the level of readiness of the stadium on Krestovsky Island is now 79%. At the meeting, it was decided that the first match at the new site should take place in September 2016. However, a month later the general contractor moved the announced deadlines until December 2016.

February 2016 The general contractor asks to increase the estimate to 35.3 billion rubles
The Inzhtransstroy-SPb company, the general contractor for the construction of the Zenit Arena stadium, sent an official appeal to the St. Petersburg Construction Committee about increasing the cost of building the facility by 435 million rubles. This information was confirmed by the committee’s press service. Thus, the final estimated cost of the arena may exceed 35.3 billion rubles.

July 2016 Investigators are looking for the video board of the Krestovsky stadium for 144 million rubles
The Investigative Committee and the economic police of St. Petersburg have begun large-scale searches that concern 144.5 million rubles initially required to carry out work on setting up a video board complete with a lifting and lowering system at the Krestovsky stadium, as well as a control system for the LEDs on this board. Meanwhile, the stadium's readiness is estimated at 85%. In addition, reports of delays in wages for construction workers have reappeared.

July 2016 Attempted raider takeover in the arena?
Inzhtrasstroy-Spb, the general contractor for the construction of the stadium on Krestovsky Island in St. Petersburg, reported an attempted raider takeover that took place on July 13, also accusing the city administration of attempting to delay the delivery of the arena. “A situation has arisen in which the customer, represented by the city administration, is doing everything to miss the deadline for completing the project. One of the key problems is caused by the lack of approved design solutions and documentation. We don’t have documents according to which we actually have to build,” the company told Championship. Later, city authorities did not rule out that the government contract with the contractor could be terminated.

The new home arena of the Zenit football club will be built on the site of the S. M. Kirov stadium, located in the western part of Krestovsky Island.

From November 15, 2005 to August 23, 2006, at the initiative of the government of St. Petersburg, a competition was held for the best project for a new stadium. The expert commission gave preference to the “Spaceship” project by Japanese architect Kisho Kurokawa.

The customer for the construction of the new stadium is the St. Petersburg Construction Committee. The general designer of the project is Kisho Kurokawa architects & associates. The general construction contractor is ZAO Engineering Corporation Transstroy.

The new project provides that 68 thousand spectators will be able to be in the arena at a time. The height of the seven-story building will be 56.6 meters, the area of ​​the football field will be 9840 square meters. The arena will be covered with a retractable roof, which will allow matches to be held in comfortable conditions (operating temperature - +15) in the winter season.

The Gazprom Arena stadium in St. Petersburg, better known as the Zenit Arena, was officially opened in 2016. The main architect of the building is Japanese Kisho Kurokawa.

For a long time they could not decide on the name of the sports facility; at first they wanted to call it the Krestovsky stadium (after the name of the island where it is located), then more popular ones appeared - Zenit Arena and the St. Petersburg stadium. The final option - Gazprom Arena - was chosen only in December 2018 - 11 years after the start of construction. Over the years, residents of the Northern capital and tourists have become accustomed to calling the stadium differently, so today you can hear different versions of the name.

Even before the opening, Gazprom Arena became famous as the most expensive stadium in Russia. Indeed, a fabulous amount was spent on the construction of the facility. According to various sources, the cost of the Zenit Arena is more than $1 billion. Over the years of construction, the stadium earned the notoriety of the country's main long-term construction project, the costs of which only increased every year. However, in preparation for the 2018 World Cup, the rental was completed.

Characteristics of the Gazprom Arena stadium:

  • Capacity - up to 68,000 people;
  • The area of ​​all premises is 287.68 thousand square meters. meters;
  • Height - 9 floors (75 meters), including pylons - 110 meters;
  • The area of ​​the football field is 9,840 square meters. meters.

Today, Gazprom Arena is one of the best venues in the city, suitable for both sports and musical events. The stadium's retractable roof allows the facility to be used in any weather. The infrastructure of the building makes it possible to organize events of any scale. Tenants have at their disposal premises of various sizes, a catering service, a venue and experienced employees.

The most significant events stadium "Gazprom Arena" in St. Petersburg:

  • Football tournament “Confederations Cup 2017”,
  • FIFA World Cup 2018.

In 2019, the arena will host UEFA Europa League matches. Of the musical events, the most memorable was the concert of the Leningrad group at the Gazprom Arena, held in October 2018.

Schedule of matches at the Gazprom Arena stadium

Sports competitions of various levels are held at the stadium all year round. Of course, the most striking event was the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Today, Gazprom Arena is the base of FC Zenit - home matches of the most popular and beloved football team in St. Petersburg are held here. In winter, hockey competitions are held at the arena. The game calendar for the 2018/2019 season is available on the official Gazprom Arena website.

Zenit Arena layout

From 1950 to 2006 in St. Petersburg on Krestovsky Island there was a stadium named after. Kirov. It was one of the largest stadiums in the world - it was the largest in the entire Soviet Union, Russia and Europe.

The last official match on that field was played on July 6, 2006, and by the end of 2006 the stadium was dismantled in order to begin construction of a new and almost the most expensive stadium in the world on the same site. The project budget is approximately 35 billion rubles.

And construction began...

During 2007, the pile field was completed and the earthworks were completely completed. In 2008, the project was ready, it passed the state examination, but due to various conflicts, construction was stopped.

In December 2008, construction work was resumed. But already in December 2009, after checking the stadium project for compliance with FIFA requirements, it became clear that, according to a number of criteria, the stadium already under construction did not meet these standards. The main complaints were made about the configuration of the stands (ensuring comfortable visibility, location of hatches) and the layout of the sub-tribune rooms, which were divided by thick walls into small compartments. There were practically no halls or open spaces inside. To correct the identified deficiencies, in April 2010, a new general designer was brought in - Mosproekt-4, which has extensive experience in designing sports facilities (for example, the Lokomotiv stadium in Moscow).

The layout of the premises under the stands and the configuration of the stands were brought in accordance with the FIFA requirements for stadiums of this level. Large halls and free spaces appeared, and places were found to accommodate additional cafes and bars at all levels of the stadium. Due to the changes being made, construction was stopped again in December 2009 and resumed in full in August 2010.

Since 2008, construction has been carried out by Inzhtransstroy, part of the Transstroy structure.

The new stadium will host World Cup matches in 2018. Including the semi-finals. The final match will take place in Luzhniki. It is planned that by the time construction is completed, the stadium will become one of the most technologically advanced and sophisticated sports facilities in Europe. There will be no athletics tracks on it and it will be intended only for football matches.

Let's take a look at this engineering marvel. I will reveal several technical solutions that are worth focusing on:
- roll-out football field;
- a huge reinforced concrete bridge with a span of 100 meters on which the stand is located;
- sliding roof.

And stopping construction was only beneficial. During this time, the pile field has stabilized and now it no longer produces sediment. There is another story connected with him. The fact is that the first general contractor (Avant) overdid it a little with the piles, and there were more of them than necessary. As a result, the bearing capacity of the field turned out to be twice as large as planned according to the project. In general, a dark story happened with them... But then, when the project was changed, it played into the hands - the new stadium project and all the changes fit perfectly into the limits of weights and loads. It was only necessary to strengthen the grillages under the stadium bowl.

Well, enough introductions, it's time to watch!

Beautiful view from the Primorsky district. The stadium itself resembles a flying saucer. By the way, it has a specially aerodynamic shape, since wind loads especially had to be taken into account here.

During the construction phase, the new home stadium of St. Petersburg Zenit repeatedly became the object of everyone's attention. This is primarily due to constant postponements of delivery deadlines and regular budget increases. Nevertheless, in 2017, the long-awaited project was completed, and the northern capital of Russia received a modern stadium on Krestovsky Island.

general information

Official site: arena.fc-zenit.ru

Capacity: 56,196 seats (at sporting events)

Address: St. Petersburg, Football Alley, 1

GPS coordinates for the navigator: 59.972878, 30.221394

Year of construction: 2017

Field: 105×68 m.

Scoreboard: electronic.

Roof: sliding.

Coating: natural.

The inner thicket of the stadium is traditionally divided into two tiers and four sectors: A, B, C, D. Tickets for Zenit matches can be purchased in various ways: through the official website, in the club store, client office, using terminals. The address of the client office is Dobrolyubova Ave., 16, lit. A, building 2. Addresses of stores and other places where you can purchase tickets to the Zenit Arena must be checked on the official website of the stadium or on the website of FC Zenit.

One of the easiest ways to buy a ticket is to use the official Internet portal. It contains all the necessary information for clients, as well as a convenient graphical interface that allows you to quickly select and book a suitable place.


Despite the protracted construction process, confusion with names and other unpleasant nuances, the St. Petersburg Stadium (Zenit Arena) has every chance of becoming the central sports facility of the northern capital of the Russian Federation. UEFA assigned the new stadium on Krestovsky Island the 4th maximum category, thereby placing the St. Petersburg arena on a par with the best football facilities.

St. Petersburg Arena is not only a place for football matches. The structure, like almost all modern stadiums, is multifunctional. At cultural and entertainment events, the capacity of the bowl can be increased to 80,000 seats. This makes the stadium an excellent venue for large-scale festivals and performances by world stars.

How to get to the stadium. Infrastructure

Metro

About two kilometers from the main sports arena of St. Petersburg is the Krestovsky Island metro station. Fans can also use two more stations - “Staraya Derevnya” and “Chkalovskaya”, which are located within walking distance from the stadium. It is worth noting that the travel time from the Krestovsky Island station to the arena will be about 25 minutes.

Tram

No. 48, No. 19. The tram schedule and the availability of additional routes need to be clarified.

Buses and shuttles

Buses No. 10, No. 14, No. 25, No. 25A, K-131. Special shuttle buses run two hours before and after the match. Their schedules and final stops may change, so such information should be checked on the official website before visiting the stadium.

You can also walk to the stadium via the Yacht Bridge, which opened at the end of May 2017. It is assumed that the bridge will be pedestrian. However, it can also be used to transport fans on buses.

By car

There is also an option to get to the St. Petersburg stadium by your own personal transport. The car can be parked in external parking (2,732 spaces) or internal parking (240 spaces). Both parking areas are located on the bay side. The address where you can purchase a car pass, and all the conditions can be found on the official page of the stadium.

Zenit Arena is the main, but not the only sports facility on Krestovsky Island. Not far from the football stadium is the Sibur Arena multifunctional complex, which can accommodate 7,120 fans. During boxing matches and MMA competitions, the spectator capacity is up to 8,000 seats.

In addition to the Sibur Arena, the St. Petersburg stadium on Krestovsky Island is accompanied by the Locosphinx cycling track and the Athletics Arena. Among all these sports facilities there is also the Park Krestovsky Hotel, which was built in 2009.

Lengthy construction

The construction of a new stadium in St. Petersburg was regularly accompanied by scandals that were actively discussed in society. The construction of the arena was seriously delayed, and its budget was constantly increasing. This caused negative sentiments and mistrust both among St. Petersburg fans and among people quite far from football. Journalists calculated that more than 40 billion rubles were spent on construction. Naturally, this colossal amount was compared with the costs of building the best stadiums in the world. For example, Juventus Stadium was built in just over three years, and the costs amounted to just over 100 million euros.

Zenit Arena was built on the site of the former stadium. Kirov, which operated at Krestovsky since 1950. It is noteworthy that the previous stadium also had a complex and long history of construction. Work began in 1932, and the stadium was put into operation. Kirov was introduced only after 18 years. True, in that case the reason for the protracted construction was the Second World War.

In 2006, work began on dismantling the stadium. Kirov, after which the construction of the future St. Petersburg arena began. At that time, it was assumed that the stadium would be named Gazprom Arena. Quite interesting metamorphoses took place with the name of the complex. Even representatives of the press at different stages called the stadium either “Gazprom Arena”, or “Zenit Arena”, or “St. Petersburg”. This confusion was partly due to the ambiguous situation surrounding the construction of the complex. Initially, the work was to be financed by Gazprom. The presence of the name of the corporation in the name of the stadium in this case was quite logical. However, later money for construction was allocated from the city budget. The issue with the name of the arena remains relevant. For the duration of the matches of the 2017 Confederation Cup and the 2018 FIFA World Cup, it was decided to use the name “St. Petersburg Arena”.

In 2007, the old stadium on Krestovsky was completely demolished. After ground work, the first stone of a new modern sports complex was laid. The architectural design competition was won by the agency “Kisho Kurokawa architects & associates” of the famous Kise Kurosawa, who passed away in the same 2007.

The project deadline was repeatedly pushed back, and the cost of the stadium regularly increased. Nevertheless, the complex construction on Krestovsky Island was completed in 2017. The 2018 World Cup undoubtedly became one of the main catalysts for the logical conclusion of the famous and controversial construction in St. Petersburg. The first official match at the new arena took place on April 22, 2017.

Sport events

The debut unofficial game at the Zenit Arena stadium took place at the end of 2016. Then the teams of Metrostroy and the builders of St. Petersburg took to the field. The stadium on Krestovsky hosted the official match in April 2017. The match took place as part of the 24th round of the Russian Football Championship. St. Petersburg Zenit beat Ural with a score of 2-0.

Already at the first game, obvious problems with the lawn appeared, which were added to the multiple excess of vibration standards. Work was urgently carried out to re-lay the lawn, which was completed at the end of May. Nevertheless, St. Petersburg Zenit was forced to return to Petrovsky and finish out the 2016-2017 Premier League season at the old stadium.

 

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