VEB Arena

VEB Arena (Russian: «ВЭБ-Арена»), known as Arena CSKA due to UEFA sponsorship regulations, is a multi-use stadium in Khodynka Field, Moscow, Russia, that was completed in 2016. It is used mostly for football matches and host the home matches of PFC CSKA Moscow and occasionally the Russian national team.

Not to be confused with another stadium in Moscow named VTB Arena.
VEB Arena
LocationKhodynka Field, Moscow, Russia
Coordinates55°47′29″N 37°30′58″E
Public transit CSKA
Zorge
OwnerPFC CSKA Moscow
OperatorPFC CSKA Moscow
Capacity30,457 (Russian Premier League)[1]
Record attendance29,284 (12 April 2018)
Field size110 x 68 m
SurfaceGrass
Construction
Broke ground19 May 2007
Opened10 September 2016[2]
Construction cost350 million USD[3]
Tenants
PFC CSKA Moscow (2016–present)
Russia national football team (selected matches)

The stadium is located near the Khodynka Field in the Park of Birch Grove.

History

The construction process started in 2007 but had been halted several times, with the longest pause lasting 16 months (between 2009 and 2011).

VEB Arena during a UEFA Champions League match between CSKA Moscow and Manchester United in 2017.

The VEB Arena has a capacity around 30,000 people. An integral part of the stadium is a skyscraper designed to resemble the UEFA Cup, the first European trophy won by a Russian club, with CSKA beating Sporting CP in 2005. The 142 meter-tall skyscraper is to stand in one of the corners, but the remaining three will also have office spaces and skyboxes instead of regular stands. There are 1,400 car park spaces planned.

The first match at the new stadium was supposed to be the 2016 Russian Super Cup between CSKA and Zenit Saint Petersburg on 23 July 2016, but due to the stadium's unpreparedness the game was moved to RZD Arena. The actual first match was played on 4 September 2016, a closed friendly match between CSKA and Torpedo Moscow), in which CSKA won 3–0. The first official match at the stadium was held six days later against Terek Grozny; CSKA also won 3–0. Lacina Traoré scored the first official goal in the new arena.[4]

On 27 September 2016, the stadium held its first European match; in the Champions League against the English club Tottenham Hotspur, in which CSKA lost 0–1. On 30 April 2017, CSKA lost 1–2 to Spartak Moscow. This was the first league defeat for CSKA in this stadium. On 9 June 2017, the Russian national team played at the stadium for the first time; a friendly game against Chile which ended 1–1, with CSKA player Viktor Vasin scored for the host.

On 28 February 2017, CSKA Moscow announced that they had sold the naming rights to the stadium to Russian bank VEB, with the stadium becoming the VEB Arena.[5] The first match at the stadium under the new name was held on 4 March 2017 between CSKA and Zenit; the game ended with a goalless draw.

Exactly a year after its first European match at the stadium, CSKA played in a UEFA Champions League match against another English team. Manchester United defeated CSKA 4–1 as the match broke the attendance record with 29,073 spectators.

On 12 April 2018, in a Europa League quarter-final match between CSKA and yet another English club Arsenal, the attendance record was broken. The 2–2 draw was seen by 29,284 spectators.

A panoramic photograph of the stadium

Russian fixtures
Date Time Result Competition Attendance Ref.
9 June 2017 19:00 MSK (UTC+3) Russia  1–1  Chile Friendly 22,000 [6]
7 October 2017 17:00 MSK (UTC+3) Russia  4–2  South Korea Friendly 24,200 [7]
5 June 2018 19:00 MSK (UTC+3) Russia  1–1  Turkey Friendly 27,423 [8]

Concerts

Park Live 5 festival took place at the stadium, System Of A Down and Three Days Grace performed in front of more than 20,000 people.

See also

References
  1. "Arena CSKA (VEB Arena)".
  2. http://www.sportfakt.ru/football/103298/
  3. https://news.rambler.ru/sport/34503191-nazvana-stoimost-stadiona-tsska-v-moskve/
  4. http://pfc-cska.com/novosti/vse-novosti/stadium/arena-cska-vvedena-v-ekspluataciju/
  5. "PFC CSKA seal naming rights deal with VEB". pfc-cska.com. CSKA Moscow. 28 February 2017. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  6. "Russia vs. Chile - 9 June 2017". Soccerway. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  7. "Two own goals help World Cup hosts Russia beat South Korea". Reuters. October 8, 2017.
  8. "Russia – Turkey". BBC Sport. June 5, 2017.
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