Anzhi Arena (russian: «Анжи Арена») or Anji Arena is an

all-seater An all-seater stadium is a sports stadium in which every spectator has a seat. This is commonplace in professional association football stadiums in nations such as the United Kingdom, Spain, and the Netherlands. Most association football and Ame ...

football stadium in

Kaspiysk Kaspiysk (russian: Каспи́йск; lbe, Ккасппи; av, Каспиялъухъ) is a city in the Republic of Dagestan, Russia, located on the Caspian Sea, southeast of Makhachkala. The 2010 Russian census recorded the city as being the ...

, Dagestan, Russia, and was the home of

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; russian: Российская премьер-лига; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is the top division professional association football league in Russia. It was established at the end of 2001 ...

club

Anzhi Makhachkala Football Club Anzhi Makhachkala (russian: link=no, Футбо́льный клуб «Анжи́» Махачкала́, ), known simply as FC Anji, was a Russian professional football club based in the Dagestani capital of Makhachkala. Founded ...

. The stadium was built on the site of Anzhi's former home, Khazar Stadium. It was opened after its renewal on 17 March 2013 and has a capacity of 26,500 spectators. It replaced

Dynamo Stadium Dynamo Stadium or Dinamo Stadium is a stadium that often associated with the Dynamo (sports society). It may also refer to: Albania * Selman Stërmasi Stadium, Tirana, formerly "Dinamo Stadium" Belarus *Dinamo Stadium (Brest), Belarus *Dinamo St ...

as the home of FC Anzhi.

History

Anzhi played their home games at the

in the center of the city of Makhachkala, but due to its small capacity, they decided to build a new stadium that could provide a bigger audience. The stadium was built in 2003 in

(10 km southeast from

Makhachkala Makhachkala ( rus, Махачкала, , məxətɕkɐˈla, links=yes),; av, Махӏачхъала, Maħaçqala; ce, ХӀинжа-ГӀала, Hinƶa-Ġala; az, Маһачгала, Mahaçqala; nog, Махачкала; lbe, Махачкъала; ...

) due to small sources of land in the city of

, the stadium was named Khazar. It was inaugurated on 22 July 2003. Later, Anzhi left the Khazar stadium and returned to play at their old

due to the difficulty of playing football under the strong winds blowing from the Caspian Sea.

Opening

The arena was opened with a mini concert by Cher and Flo Rida. The concert was filmed but for legal reasons, Cher was not shown on Russian TV.

Reconstruction

Since acquiring the club in 2011,

Suleyman Kerimov Suleyman Abusaidovich Kerimov (russian: Сулейма́н Абусаи́дович Кери́мов, p=sʊlʲɪjˈman ɐbʊsɐˈidəvʲɪtɕ kʲɪˈrʲiməf; lez, Керимрин Абусаидан хва Сулейман; born 12 March 1966) ...

planned on building a stadium that would include all UEFA Stadium Regulations, since Anzhi's home ground

was not permitted to host European matches. It was decided that Khazar stadium would be remodeled into a European level stadium, which upon completion will be called Anzhi Arena. The official opening after its renewal was held on 17 March 2013.

External links

References

Football venues in Russia Sport in Dagestan FC Anzhi Makhachkala Buildings and structures in Dagestan Sports venues completed in 2003 {{Russia-sports-venue-stub