Spectacular Stadia

Be it the historic Maracana in Brazil in 2014, or the new magical Soccer City in South Africa in 2010, stadiums are the heart of the World Cup. They are the venues for players to showcase their talent, for fans to cheer on their teams, and for memories to be made. Russia is no exception, with the 2018 host nation having an array of spectacular stadia in use for the tournament.

Many new architecture is built in the lead up to a World Cup. For example, Amazonian city Manaus built its very own stadium in the jungle for the 2014 World Cup. The stadium held a few high profile games, but unfortunately has been largely unused since, becoming little more than a playground and homeless shelter in the city. Nevertheless, new stadiums most definitely galvanize a town, leading to some terrific atmospheres during games. Sadly, the rush to industrialize, modernize, and grow often comes at a price.

Many are aware of the latest news stories regarding working conditions in building these new stadiums. Almost all of the stadiums in South Africa were brand new for 2010, and Brazil and Russia themselves built new arenas for the 2014 and 2018 tournaments respectively. Qatar, 2022 host, is building new stadiums too. The working conditions have been reported, particularly in Russia and Qatar, to be quite inhumane, due to either heat, cold, rain, or simply long hours. Moreover, these workers often come from other cultures and nations, and are discriminated against in terms of wages. Sadly, many migrant workers have passed away for one reason or another. This is one aspect of the soccer world that is very shady, and must be acted upon by the governing bodies to ensure workers who build the wonderful stadiums that fans enjoy not only are kept safe and making a living wage, but also get more recognition for their terrific work.

Going back to Russia, there are 12 stadiums that will be in use for the 2018 World Cup. With Russia being so large, and having so many time zones, the organizers were smart to ensure that as many of the venues were in the same time zone as possible, in order to minimize travel as well as to keep games occurring simultaneously. There are 11 cities who will be represented, with capital city Moscow using two stadiums. The final of the tournament will be held in Luzhniki Stadium in the city, with a capacity of around 80,000, the largest venue for the tournament. Other stadia that are well known will be Otkritie Arena (the home of Spartak Moscow), Krestovsky Stadium (the home of Zenit St Petersburg), and Fisht Olympic Stadium in Sochi, where the Winter Olympics were held in 2014. Venues in Kazan, Kaliningrad, and Yekaterinburg, as well as five brand new stadiums around the country make up the remainder of the 12.

One plan that Russia is trialing during the World Cup is the deregulation of alcohol and substance bans in stadiums in the nation. For the World Cup, fans will be able to drink and bring recreational drugs to the games. This will no doubt come at a risk, but as I mentioned in my article about public safety, Russia has one of the best security systems in the world, and fan safety will be a top priority for the nation.

With all stadia holding more than 35,000 people, all of the matches at the World Cup will be electric. Chants will echo around each arena, creating a fantastic atmosphere to play in. Russia has done a fantastic job in this aspect. All of the players in attendance will have the chance to play in what could be some of the greatest atmospheres in recent time, and this should create opportunity for fantastic matches.

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