Russia's federal Audit Chamber claims the new stadium will not be delivered in 2015, but – at best – in late 2016 or early 2017. The city opposes such views and assures 2015 is still the plan.

Audit Chamber head Sergei Stepashin said on Monday that the best-case scenario is for construction of the $1.1 billion arena to be finished in late 2016 or early 2017 because the city has failed to take into account unspecified "operational decisions" and that damp might have set in through parts of the stadium already constructed.

But Marat Oganesyan, St. Petersburg's vice governor responsible for construction denies further delay of the stadium is possible.

The stadium started construction in 2007 and was originally supposed to open in 2008. It has faced a litany of problems, including a partial redesign to comply with by FIFA’s World Cup specifications. The latest plans for the arena were rejected last month by Russia’s federal agency for major infrastructure projects, citing design changes.