Krestovsky Stadium, known as Gazprom Arena for sponsorship reasons (russian: «Газпром Арена»), is a retractable roof

stadium A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

with a retractable pitch in the western portion of Krestovsky Island in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, Russia, which serves as home for

FC Zenit Saint Petersburg Football Club Zenit (russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб «Зенит» ), also known as Zenit Saint Petersburg or simply Zenit, is a Russian professional football club based in Saint Petersburg. Founded in 1925 (or in 1914, acc ...

. The stadium was opened in 2017 for the

FIFA Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships (AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, ...

.New stadium
at Zenit's website It is called Saint Petersburg Stadium during major international tournaments, including the

2017 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup was the 10th and final edition of the FIFA Confederations Cup, a quadrennial international men's football tournament organised by FIFA. It was held in Russia, from 17 June to 2 July 2017, as a prelude to the 201 ...

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded the hosting righ ...

, and

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europ ...

. It was to host the

2022 UEFA Champions League Final The 2022 UEFA Champions League Final was the final match of the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League, the 67th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 30th season since it was renamed from the European Champion ...

, but as a result of the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

, UEFA moved the final out of Russia and to the

Stade de France The Stade de France (, ) is the national stadium of France, located just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis. Its seating capacity of 80,698 makes it the sixth-largest stadium in Europe. The stadium is used by the France national foo ...

in Saint-Denis, a suburb of

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

History

The stadium was built as one of the venues for the

. The competition between architectural projects was won by

Kisho Kurokawa (April 8, 1934 – October 12, 2007) was a leading Japanese architect and one of the founders of the Metabolist Movement. Biography Born in Kanie, Aichi, Kurokawa studied architecture at Kyoto University, graduating with a bachelor's ...

's "The Spaceship". The design of the stadium is a modified and enlarged version of Toyota Stadium in Toyota City, Japan, which was also designed by Kurokawa. The stadium was built on the location where the former Kirov Stadium used to stand before it was demolished. The capacity of 56,196 seats was increased to 68,000 seats for the World Cup. It also has 104 luxuriously designed skyboxes. In 2005 the planning of the stadium began. Initial construction work began in late 2008. In January 2009 '' The St. Petersburg Times'' reported that the project was now to be funded by the city government of St Petersburg, with Gazprom switching to build a separate skyscraper project. The City Hall had to step in after

Gazprom PJSC Gazprom ( rus, Газпром, , ɡɐzˈprom) is a Russian majority state-owned multinational energy corporation headquartered in the Lakhta Center in Saint Petersburg. As of 2019, with sales over $120 billion, it was ranked as the large ...

declined to invest any further money into the stadium's construction. Before the

was named '' Sankt Petersburg'' in October 2015, it was known under the names Zenit Arena, Gazprom Arena and Piter Arena. On 25 July 2016 the general contractor, Inzhtransstroy-Spb, issued a statement that the city authorities have failed to pay 1 billion rubles ($15.8 million at the current exchange rate) worth of construction work and stopped the work. The next day the contract was terminated. On 1 August there were reports of wind damage to parts of the metal sheathing, and a flood. In the end of August 2016, the new general contractor, Metrostroy, resumed construction works on the site. In April 2017 the work on the stadium was completed. The total cost of the stadium amounted to 24 billion rubles. The first official match held at the stadium was the

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 ...

game between

and

FC Ural FC Ural Yekaterinburg (russian: ФК Урал) is a Russian association football club based in Yekaterinburg. They play in the Russian Premier League. History The club was founded in 1930 and was known as Avangard (1930–1948, 1953–1957), ...

on 22 April 2017.

Branislav Ivanović Branislav Ivanović ( sr-Cyrl, Бранислав Ивановић, ; born 22 February 1984) is a Serbian former professional footballer. A versatile defender, Ivanović played as a right back, although he can also play as a centre back. Ivano ...

scored the first goal in the stadium's history. On 17 June 2017, the first game of

was held on the stadium with the

Group A Group A is a set of motorsport regulations administered by the FIA covering production derived vehicles intended for competition, usually in touring car racing and rallying. In contrast to the short-lived Group B and Group C, Group A vehicles ...

match between the host

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

. On 2 July 2017, the

2017 FIFA Confederations Cup Final The 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup Final was a football match to determine the winners of the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup, the 10th and last edition of the FIFA Confederations Cup, a quadrennial international men's football tournament organised by F ...

was held at the stadium between

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

, becoming the most attended match of the tournament and also setting the record attendance for the stadium. On February 15, 2018, the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...

signed a contract for the rights and use of the stadium with Zenit Arena

LLC A limited liability company (LLC for short) is the US-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability of ...

, which is a subsidiary of JSC football club Zenit. On December 16, 2018, the Stadium hosted a Channel One Cup Russia –

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...

(5-0) hockey match. 81,000 spectators watched the game and set a record attendance in domestic and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice ...

. On August 2, 2019, Rammstein played a concert on its Euro-Stadion-Tour in the stadium. After the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. A ...

, it was announced that the

would be moved from the Gazprom Arena to the

2017 FIFA Confederations Cup

2018 FIFA World Cup

Saint Petersburg was one of the host venues, seven matches during the

UEFA Euro 2020

On 19 September 2014, it was announced by UEFA that the stadium was chosen to host four

finals fixtures, three group games and a quarter-final match. On 23 April 2021, the stadium was given three additional group stage matches in Group E (Poland vs. Slovakia, Sweden vs. Slovakia and Sweden vs. Poland) following the removal of the Aviva Stadium in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

as a Euro 2020 host city due to the ongoing

COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Ireland The COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Ireland is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the Republic of Ireland, it has resulted in 1, ...

UEFA Champions League Matches

On 24 September 2019, UEFA announced that the stadium would host the 2021 UEFA Champions League Final. However, due to adjustments of the 2020 final caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic in Europe The global COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Europe with its first confirmed case in Bordeaux, France, on 24 January 2020, and subsequently spread widely across the continent. By 17 March 2020, every country in Europe had confirmed a case, and all ...

, their hosting time was pushed back a year to 2022. As a result of the

on 24 February, UEFA called an extraordinary meeting of the Executive Committee, and the next day, UEFA confirmed that the final would be moved to the

in Saint-Denis, a suburb of

UEFA Europa League Matches

2021-12-08 - FC Zenit Saint Petersburg v Chelsea F

Conditions for spectators with disabilities

Saint Petersburg Arena offers 560 seats for people with disabilities, 266 of them are for wheelchair users. Moreover, the stadium design includes special lobbies, elevators and ramps to ensure accessibility to spectators with limited mobility.

Safety and security

The stadium has been fully prepared for the FIFA World Cup games in accordance with the FIFA requirements for capacity and security. The stadium is equipped with a video surveillance and identification system that makes it possible to detect any troublemakers and fans who are not allowed to enter.

References

External links

Official website
* Live webcam of stadium construction a
http://ingtransstroy.ru

Updated renders of the stadium after project adjustment

Section about the stadium on the official website of Zenit
{{List of retractable-roof stadiums in Europe FC Zenit Saint Petersburg Football venues in Russia Sports venues in Saint Petersburg Retractable-pitch stadiums Retractable-roof stadiums Retractable-roof stadiums in Europe 2018 FIFA World Cup stadiums 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup stadiums UEFA Euro 2020 stadiums Sports venues completed in 2017 2017 establishments in Russia