Luzhniki Stadium


Luzhniki Stadium is the national stadium of Russia, located in its capital city, Moscow. The full name of the stadium is Grand Sports Arena of the Luzhniki Olympic Complex. Its total seating capacity of 81,000 makes it the largest football stadium in Russia and the ninth-largest stadium in Europe. The stadium is a part of the Luzhniki Olympic Complex, and is located in Khamovniki District of the Central Administrative Okrug of Moscow city. The name Luzhniki derives from the flood meadows in the bend of Moskva River where the stadium was built, translating roughly as "The Meadows".
Luzhniki was the main stadium of the 1980 Olympic Games, hosting the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as some of the competitions, including the final of the football tournament. A UEFA Category 4 stadium, Luzhniki hosted the UEFA Cup final in 1999 and UEFA Champions League final in 2008. The stadium also hosted such events as Summer Universiade, Goodwill Games and World Athletics Championships. It was the main stadium of 2018 FIFA World Cup and hosted 7 matches of the tournament, including the opening match and the final.
In the past its field has been used as the home ground for football games played by CSKA Moscow, Spartak Moscow and Torpedo Moscow, however, there are currently no clubs based at the stadium. Today it is mainly used as one of the home stadiums of the Russia national football team. The stadium is used from time to time for various other sporting events and for concerts. It is also used to host Russian domestic cup finals.

Location

File:Moscow-Exterior_of_Luzhniki_Stadium_.jpg
The stadium is located in Khamovniki District of the Central Administrative Okrug of Moscow city, south-west of the city center. The name Luzhniki derives from the flood meadows in the bend of Moskva River where the stadium was built, translating roughly as "The Meadows". It was necessary to find a very large plot of land, preferably in a green area close to the city center that could fit into the transport map of the capital without too much difficulty.
According to one of the architects: "On a sunny spring day of 1954, we, a group of architects and engineers who were tasked with designing the Central stadium, climbed onto a large paved area on the Lenin Hills... the proximity of the river, green mass of clean, fresh air - this circumstance alone mattered to select the area of the future city of sports... In addition, Luzhniki is located relatively close to the city center and convenient access to major transport systems with all parts of the capital".

Playing surface

It was one of the few major European football stadia to use an artificial pitch, having installed a FIFA-approved FieldTurf pitch in 2002. However, a temporary natural grass pitch was installed for the 2008 UEFA Champions League Final.
In August 2016 a permanent hybrid turf was installed, consisting of 95 percent natural grass reinforced with plastic.

History

Background and early years

On 23 December 1954, the Government of the USSR adopted a resolution on the construction of a stadium in the Luzhniki area in Moscow. The decision of the Soviet Government was a response to a specific current international situation: By the early 1950s, Soviet athletes took to the world stage for the first time after the Great Patriotic War, participating in the Olympic Games. The 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki brought the Soviet team 71 medals and second place in the unofficial team standings.
It was a major success, but the increased athletic development of the Soviet Union, which was a matter of state policy, required the construction of a new sports complex. The proposed complex was to meet all modern international standards and at the same time serve as a training base for the Olympic team and arena for large domestic and international competitions.
The stadium was built in 1955–56 as the Grand Arena of the Central Lenin Stadium. Building materials came from Leningrad and the Armenian SSR, electrical and oak beams for the spectator benches from the Ukrainian SSR, furniture from Riga and Kaunas, glass was brought from Minsk, electrical equipment from Podolsk in Moscow Oblast, and larch lumber from Irkutsk in Siberia. It was necessary to demolish a whole area of dilapidated buildings. Because the soil was heavily waterlogged, almost the entire area of the foundations of the complex had to be raised half a meter. 10,000 piles were hammered into the ground and dredgers reclaimed about 3 million cubic meters of soil.
The stadium was officially opened on 31 July 1956, having been built in just 450 days. It was the national stadium of the Soviet Union, and is now the national stadium of Russia.

1980 Summer Olympics

The stadium was the chief venue for the 1980 Summer Olympics, the spectator capacity being 103,000 at that time. The events hosted in this stadium were the opening and closing ceremonies, athletics, football finals, and the individual jumping grand prix.

1982 Luzhniki disaster

On 20 October 1982, disaster struck during a UEFA Cup match between FC Spartak Moscow and HFC Haarlem. 66 people died in the stampede, which made it Russia's worst sporting disaster at the time.

1990s and 2000s

In 1992, the stadium was renamed Luzhniki Stadium. An extensive renovation in 1996 saw the construction of a roof over the stands, and the refurbishment of the seating areas, resulting in a decrease in capacity.
The stadium hosted the 1999 UEFA Cup Final in which Parma defeated Marseille in the second UEFA Cup final to be played as a single fixture.
The Luzhniki Stadium was chosen by the UEFA to host the 2008 UEFA Champions League Final won by Manchester United who beat Chelsea in the first all-English Champions League final on 21 May. The match passed incident-free and a spokesman for the British Embassy in Moscow said, "The security and logistical arrangements put in place by the Russian authorities have been first-rate, as has been their cooperation with their visiting counterparts from the UK."
In August 2013, the stadium hosted the World Athletics Championships.

Renovation for FIFA World Cup

The original stadium was demolished in 2013 to give a way for the construction of a new stadium. However, the self-supported cover was retained. The facade wall was retained as well, due to its architectural value, and was later reconnected to the new building. Construction of the new stadium was completed in 2017.
The 2018 FIFA World Cup was held in Russia with the Luzhniki Stadium selected as the venue for the opening match and also the final, which was held on 15 July 2018. The stadium joins Rome's Stadio Olimpico, London's old Wembley Stadium, Berlin's Olympiastadion and Munich's Olympiastadion as the only stadiums to have hosted the finals of the FIFA World Cup and UEFA's European Cup/Champions League and featured as a main stadium of the Summer Olympic Games. Saint Denis' Stade de France is scheduled to become another in 2024.
The stadium's capacity was increased from 78,000 to 81,000 seats, partly caused by the removal of the athletics track around the pitch.

Largest sport events

When the Luzhniki Stadium hosted the final game of the 1957 Ice Hockey World Championship between Sweden and the Soviet Union, it was attended by a crowd of 55,000 and set a new world record at the time. On 23 May 1963, Fidel Castro made a historic speech in Luzhniki Stadium during his record 38-day visit to the Soviet Union.
New Japan Pro Wrestling, the Japanese professional wrestling promotion, ran a show in 1989. Luzhniki Stadium also makes an appearance in the Russian supernatural thriller film Night Watch, during the power shut-down scene when the power station goes into overload. The stadium is seen with a match taking place, and then the lights go out.
In 2008, Manchester United beat Chelsea on penalties after a 1–1 draw to win their third European Cup. This was United's third appearance in the final, and Chelsea's first.

2018 FIFA World Cup

Luzhniki Stadium hosted seven games of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, including the opening and the final matches.
DateTimeTeam No. 1Res.Team No. 2RoundAttendance
14 June 201818:005–0Group A78,011
17 June 201818:000–1Group F78,011
20 June 201815:001–0Group B78,011
26 June 201817:000–0Group C78,011
1 July 201817:001–1 Round of 1678,011
11 July 201821:002–1 Semi-final78,011
15 July 201818:004–2Final78,011

Security measures

During the World Cup, Luzhniki had six access control stations with 39 inspection lines, and seven access control points with 427 entrances for fans arriving on foot. The grounds were serviced by 3,000 surveillance cameras and about 900 scanners, monitors, and detectors.

Services for fans

The stadium stands included special observation areas for people with disabilities, which offered space for wheelchairs and accompanying persons. In addition, after the reconstruction, the stadium was equipped with special extra-wide seats for plus-size spectators. Additional services for spectators available at the stadium: navigation assistance from volunteers, storage rooms, registration of children, lost and found office, and audio descriptive commentary for blind or visually impaired fans.