VEB Arena – stadium description

CSKA settled at Pieschannaya Street in Moscow in 1961. Due to proximity of military airport, the ground nicknamed “Pieschankoy” never got floodlight masts and was somewhat inferior in that manner. With two landfill grandstands able to hold 10,000 people (and a running track) it proved far too dated and small for CSKA’s needs after the regime change.

This was more true than ever in 2005, when CSKA won their first European trophy, the UEFA Cup (now Europa League). To celebrate the occasion, as well as the club’s centenary, owner Yevgeniy Giner commissioned Mosproekt-4 with creating an iconic stadium design for a new stadium. With the airport no longer in operation, height was no longer an issue which is clear when you look at the first renderings, envisioning a 150-meter skyscraper in the south-western corner! The structure was later downscaled slightly, but tower resembling the UEFA trophy was to still reach 142 meters!

Financed privately, the stadium was to have 30,000 seats on two tiers. Aside from the tower, each corner would also hold office-alike structures comprising hotel and other uses. The stadium’s roof was designed tilted and despite numerous amendments to the documentation all signature features remained between 2005 and 2016.

Demolition of the old stadium was carried out in 2006 and official groundbreaking took place on May 19, 2007. Oddly enough, first concrete slab was poured a year later, in 2008. The project suffered from numerous setbacks over the years and initial deadline of 2009 soon proved a fantasy. With difficult design process, land dispute with the Defense Ministry and financial model changes the delivery date had been pushed back numerous times between 2010, 2013, 2015 and then several times even in 2016. Finally, on July 30, 2016 the deputy mayor of Moscow announced it was complete.

As a result of the above changes, total budget also soared. Instead of the initial $100 million, the stadium consumed 350% of that amount (!), an estimated 350 million. If you compare that to other 30,000-capacity stadiums, it’s extremely expensive. But then again, there is no comparable stadium of that size. Because in terms of floor space, this one is much closer to Wembley than it is to any 30,000-seater. The four office towers together offer 171,000 m² of space which will offer daily work to some 3,300 people, regardless of matchday use.

After turbulent construction process, CSKA played the first official game in September of 2016. In the future, the stadium should also serve as training base during the 2018 World Cup and is also announced to apply for the UEFA Supercup.