Ak Bars Arena (Russian: «Ак Барс Арена»; Tatar: Ак Барс Арена, formerly known as Kazan Arena (Russian: «Казань Арена»; Tatar: Казан Арена)) is a stadium in Kazan, Russia. It was completed in July 2013, and hosts football matches, especially FC Rubin Kazan's home games in the Russian Premier League. The stadium has the largest outside screen in the world. Its capacity is around 45,379.[3]
History
The stadium was constructed for the 2013 Summer Universiade. On May 5, 2010, president Putin held the groundbreaking ceremony.[5] The construction of the stadium was completed in 2013. The total cost was 15.5 billion rubles.[6] The stadium hosted the 2013 Summer Universiade opening and closing ceremonies,[7] and 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup.[8][9] On August 17, 2014, the first football match of the Russian Championship was hosted in the Ak Bars Arena.[10]
The 16th FINA World Championships were held in Kazan, with some events held at the Arena. It saw twelve swimming records.[11]
In the 2018 FIFA World Cup, the stadium hosted six matches, including the ones where three past champions (Germany, Argentina, and Brazil) were eliminated from the tournament.[12]
The architectural concept has been designed by Populous;[6] according to lead designer Damon Lavelle, the stadium is a unique response to the local culture and place. As a multiple-purpose venture, Ak Bars Arena can be used as football matches and other sporting events, cultural events concerts.[15] With a capacity of 45,379 seats[16] and 28 ha stadium territory, Ak Bars Arena is one of the UEFA's highest category stadium.[17] The stadium has also 72 skyboxes and a fitness center.[6] The general design stage: "TatInvestGrazhdanProekt", "Intex", "TsNIIpromzdany". It replaced Central Stadium as Kazan's main football stadium.[18]
2017 FIFA Confederations Cup
2018 FIFA World Cup
Gallery
General view of the stadium
Media Facade
General view during construction
Stadium at the Universiade 2013 Opening Ceremony
during construction
Pools at the arena during the World Water Sports Championship
^"FIFA World Cup 2018: Kazan Arena - where Champions bid adieu to the World Cup". sportskeeda.com. 8 July 2018. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
^"UEFA Super Cup bound for Helsinki and Kazan". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations.
^"Champions League in seismic overhaul with tennis-style knockout change". 20 May 2022.
^"Футбольный стадион Ак Барс Арена". kazanarena.com. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
^"General Information about Kazan Arena". national-football-teams.com. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
^"Kazan and the World Cup 2018". idaoffice.org. 11 May 2018. Retrieved 12 May 2022.
^"World Cup 2018 stadium guide: The facts and stats of every host venue". stadia-magazine.com. 8 June 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
^"Match report – Group A – Portugal - Mexico" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 18 June 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 July 2017. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
^"Match report – Group B – Germany - Chile" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 22 June 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 July 2017. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
^"Match report – Group A – Mexico - Russia" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 24 June 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 July 2017. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
^"Match report – Semi-final – Portugal - Chile" (PDF). FIFA.com. Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 28 June 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 July 2017. Retrieved 28 June 2017.