Despairing of the "corruption and shoddy workmanship that have dogged the building" of St. Petersburg’s new football stadium, city officials "have placed their hopes in divine intervention," according to Max Seddon of the FINANCIAL TIMES. But the 20 priests who held a Russian Orthodox prayer service on the pitch two months ago "have not stopped the prestige project from sliding into embarrassing problems" as Russia gears up to host the 2018 World Cup. The 68,000-seat Zenit Arena on the city’s Krestovsky Island "is supposed to be one of the off-field stars when Russia hosts the tournament." St. Petersburg Deputy Governor Igor Albin: "This is one of the most complex stadiums in the world. There’s nothing like this in town." Today it "seems closer to white elephant, mired in delays and with costs skyrocketing." A delegation from FIFA decided after "jumping up and down on the pitch last month that it vibrates too much." The roof leaks and has "failed tests to assess if it can withstand strong winds from the Gulf of Finland." In a sign of the "corruption allegations around its construction," police this week arrested Marat Oganesyan, Albin’s predecessor as deputy governor, on charges of orchestrating a 50M rubles ($770,000) kickback scheme with the subcontractor building the scoreboard. Failing to deliver the stadium on time "would be a blow" to the pride of Russian President Vladimir Putin. But the Zenit stadium "speaks to a problem" with many of Putin’s big infrastructure projects: an event intended to be a coming-out party for Russia "instead highlights the corruption and poor governance rampant in the country." Lyubov Sobol, a researcher at opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s Foundation for Fighting Corruption, said, "It’s a systemic problem. You can’t build something legally, safely and sensibly in Russia without constant cost overruns, corruption, and mismanagement" (FT, 11/18).
