Luzhniki Stadium

Luzhniki Stadium
UEFA Category 4 Stadium
Location	Moscow, Russia
Coordinates	55°42′56″N 37°33′13″E
Opened	July 31, 1956
Surface	FieldTurf (Grass For 2008 UEFA Champions League Final)
Capacity	78,360
Record attendance	102,538 (USSR-Italy, 13 October 1963)
Tenants
1980 Summer Olympics PFC CSKA Moscow FC Spartak Moscow

The Grand Sports Arena of the Luzhniki Olympic Complex (Russian: Большая спортивная арена Олимпийского комплекса Лужники) in Moscow, or briefly Luzhniki Stadium (Russian: Стадион "Лужники"), is the biggest sports stadium in Russia. Its total seating capacity is 89,318 seats, all covered (upgraded). The stadium is a part of the Luzhniki Olympic Complex, previously called the Central Lenin Stadium (Russian: Центральный стадион имени В. И. Ленина). The name Luzhniki derives from the flood meadows in the bend of Moskva River where the stadium was built, translating roughly as "The Meadows". The stadium is located in Khamovniki District of the Central Administrative Okrug of Moscow-city. As part of the Olympic complex Luzhniki also have the Palace of Sport at Luzhniki.

Stadium history

Inside view

Its field is used mainly for football games by Torpedo Moscow club, who also own the sports complex, and Spartak Moscow. It is also one of the few major European stadia to use an artificial pitch, as it installed a FIFA-approved FieldTurf pitch in 2002. The pitch is necessary for the cold Russian climate, as regular grass pitches are often destroyed during a typical winter and must be replaced at high cost. However, a temporary natural grass pitch was installed for the 2008 Champions League Final.

The Grand Arena of the Central Lenin 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.

The stadium hosted the 1999 UEFA Cup Final in which Parma defeated Marseille in the second UEFA Cup to be played as a single fixture.

The Luzhniki Stadium was chosen by 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 May 21. Prior to the match some skeptics questioned the state of the pitch and also the ability of Russian authorities to keep order amongst the traveling British fans, however the match passed incident free and a British Embassy in Moscow spokesman 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."

The 2018 FIFA World Cup has been awarded to Russia and the Luzhniki Stadium has been selected by the Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup bid as the venue for the final which will be held on July 8, 2018. The stadium will then join Rome's Stadio Olimpico, Munich's Olympic Stadium and London's Wembley Stadium as the only stadia to have hosted the finals of the FIFA World Cup, UEFA's European Cup/Champions League and featured as a main stadium of the Summer Olympic Games.

Other events

The Luzhniki Stadium also hosted the final game of the 1957 Ice Hockey World Championship between Sweden and the Soviet Union, attended by a crowd of 55,000 and setting a new world record at the time. Other events staged include the 1973 Summer Universiade, the 1989 Moscow Music Peace Festival and the inaugural World Youth Games in 1998. Artists such as Michael Jackson (1993 Dangerous Tour), The Rolling Stones, Madonna (2006 Confessions Tour), Metallica (Sick Of The Studio '07 tour), Kino, U2 (2010 U2 360° Tour) have all performed concerts in the stadium. It also makes an appearance in the Russian film Night Watch (Russian: Ночной дозор, Nochnoy Dozor), 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. New Japan Pro Wrestling, the Japanese professional wrestling promotion, ran a show in 1989 as well. Most recently, Red Hot Chili Peppers played at the stadium on July 22, 2012. The [IRB] Rugby World Cup Sevens will be hosted 28–30 June 2013.

The stadium has been awarded a five-star rating by UEFA

It also hosts European games for other football clubs like Rubin Kazan owing to the home stadium of the respective clubs not meeting UEFA standards

1982 Luzhniki Disaster

Main article: Luzhniki disaster

On October 20, 1982, disaster struck during the 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.

External links

• Official website

Events and tenants
Preceded by Stadio Comunale Turin	Summer Universiade Opening and Closing Ceremonies 1973	Succeeded by Stadio Olimpico Roma
Preceded by Olympic Stadium Montreal	Summer Olympics Opening and Closing Ceremonies (Grand Arena) 1980	Succeeded by Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles
Preceded by Olympic Stadium Montreal	Olympic Athletics competitions Main Venue 1980	Succeeded by Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles
Preceded by Olympic Stadium Montreal	Summer Olympics Football Men's Finals (Grand Arena) 1980	Succeeded by Rose Bowl Pasadena
Preceded by Parc des Princes Paris	UEFA Cup Final Venue 1999	Succeeded by Parken Stadium Copenhagen
Preceded by Olympic Stadium Athens	UEFA Champions League Final Venue 2008	Succeeded by Stadio Olimpico Rome
Preceded by Estádio do Maracanã Rio de Janeiro	FIFA World Cup Final Venue 2018	Succeeded by Lusail Iconic Stadium Lusail