Russia's "newest completed World Cup stadium, the Otkrytie Arena, in Moscow," was opened by President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, according to Dmitriy Rogovitskiy of REUTERS. The stadium, "in the north west of the Russian capital, will be home to the city's famous Spartak club and will host matches at the 2018 World Cup." Putin "arrived by helicopter," accompanied by Russian Minister for Sport Vitaly Mutko, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin and Spartak Moscow Owner Leonid Fedun, "who funded the stadium." Putin: "This stadium is fit for one of the most loved clubs in Russia. The construction of sporting stadia like this helps to push development within the country" (REUTERS, 8/27). INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL's Paul Nicholson reported the 42,000-seat Otkrytie Arena (or Spartak Stadium) began construction in Oct. '10. Although its "primary use will be as a football stadium it has been built for multi-purpose use." Designed by AECOM and Dexter Moren Associates, the stadium has a
"neighbouring but separate indoor arena." Fedun has put up the "bulk of the finance to build the stadium through his
affiliated companies LUKoil company and IFD Kapital." As part of
the infrastructure surrounding the stadium, "a new metro station
'Spartak'" also opened Wednesday, "linking the venue to the centre of the city" (INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL, 8/27).
