Ak Bars Arena

Ak Bars Arena («Ак Барс Арена»; Ак Барс Арена, formerly known as Kazan Arena («Казань Арена»; 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.

History


The stadium was constructed for the 2013 Summer Universiade. On May 5, 2010, president Putin held the groundbreaking ceremony. The construction of the stadium was completed in 2013. The total cost was 15.5 billion rubles. The stadium hosted the 2013 Summer Universiade opening and closing ceremonies, and 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup. On August 17, 2014, the first football match of the Russian Championship was hosted in the Ak Bars Arena.

The 16th FINA World Championships were held in Kazan, with some events held at the Arena. It saw twelve swimming records.

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.

UEFA announced in March 2020 that the stadium would host the 2023 UEFA Super Cup; however, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the venue was later moved to the Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus, Greece.

Design
The architectural concept has been designed by Populous; 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. With a capacity of 45,379 seats and 28 ha stadium territory, Ak Bars Arena is one of the UEFA's highest category stadium. The stadium has also 72 skyboxes and a fitness center. The general design stage: "TatInvestGrazhdanProekt", "Intex", "TsNIIpromzdany". It replaced Central Stadium as Kazan's main football stadium.