/ 1 December 2017

Fans could be out in the cold in 2018

Space oddity: The Central Stadium in Yekaterinburg will have temporary seating to accommodate Fifa’s requirement for minimum capacities of 30 000.
Space oddity: The Central Stadium in Yekaterinburg will have temporary seating to accommodate Fifa’s requirement for minimum capacities of 30 000.

How does it feel to be on the outside looking in?

Football fans visiting Yekaterinburg in the Russian Urals for the 2018 World Cup will find out when they get seated in one of two temporary stands that fill empty plots of land next to the arena — originally too small to fit Fifa rules.

Openings at each goal end of the stadium’s facade offer a remote view of the pitch but no protection from the sun or rain.

And those unlucky enough to get tickets for the extensions’ upper-most rows will stare out directly at the outer edge of the refurbished Yekaterinburg Arena’s circular roof.

All of which has left the construction company behind the 42m extensions sounding somewhat bemused.

“This is a typical solution for sport facilities built for major international competitions,” said Sinara-Development director general Timur Ufimtsev.

“In addition, you can see a beautiful panoramic view of Yekaterinburg itself since the stadium is in a central part of the city.”

He added that the seating section is protected by “tall railings” to make sure no one falls off.

The additions will make Yekaterinburg Arena into a 35 000-seater that will shrink back down in size to 23 000 once the stands are dismantled when all the tourists go home.

The world media’s sceptical gaze fell on the 60-year-old stadium once it was selected as the easternmost venue of the 12 hosting the marquee June 14 to July 15 event.

The United Kingdom’s perplexed Guardian newspaper suggested the entire ensemble might have come from “outer space”, and USA Today screamed that it “couldn’t look any scarier”.

The Kremlin wanted to show off Russia’s cultural diversity and settled on Yekaterinburg — the mining capital of the tsars in which former president Boris Yeltsin built his career.

The unassuming industrial home to almost 1.5-million people has a team that played middling football in the Soviet era and more recently won promotion to the Russian Premier League in 2013.

It is safe to say that its 27 000-seat stadium suited the needs of a club that has gone through many incarnations and is currently simply called Ural.

Yet its size fell just short of Fifa’s carefully spelled out “minimum capacities of 30 000” requirement for stadiums hosting group stage World Cup matches.

Four were scheduled for Yekaterinburg and Russia had a problem.

Sinara-Development said it could not simply rebuild the entire arena because it was listed as a cultural heritage site that needed to be preserved in its original form.

Football’s world governing body not only agreed but applauded the unique way Yekaterinburg worked its way out of a potential mess.

“Temporary seats are being installed in order to ensure that the renovation work would conserve the historical facade of the stadium and that maintenance costs are reduced after the World Cup,” said a Fifa spokesperson.

The old stadium’s entrance featured six columns topped by sculptures of communist factory workers and athletes. These will stay in place for posterity’s sake.

The Fifa spokesperson also brushed aside any safety concerns.

“Inspection visits and detailed reports have shown that the
temporary seats in the Yekaterinburg Arena fully comply with all safety and security requirements,” he said.

Ufimtsev said the stadium was “90% ready” and would be completed by the end of the year. — AFP