Mordovia Arena

Mordovia Arena (Russian: «Мордовия Арена») is a football stadium in Saransk, Mordovia, Russia built for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. It hosted FC Mordovia Saransk, prior to their dissolution in 2020 from the Russian Professional Football League, replacing Start Stadium. It has a capacity of 44,442 spectators. The total area of the facility is 122,700 sq m.

The Arena is located in the central part of the city and is within a walking distance of the city's key infrastructure. The stadium design is based on the image of the sun, the main symbol of ancient myths and legends of the Mordvin people. After the FIFA World Cup, the stadium is expected to serve as Saransk and Mordovia's largest sports and leisure center.

History

The decision to construct a new stadium in Saransk, a city 200 miles south-east of Moscow with a population of 330,000, had been made before Russia's bid to host the FIFA World Cup was approved. The Arena was planned to be built between 2010 and 2012 and to be completed for two events: Spartakiad and celebration of the Millennium of the Unity Between the Mordovian People and the Peoples of the Russian State. But as FIFA's regulations stipulate a minimum capacity of 45,000 people the original plans were changed and the opening postponed when Saransks was listed as World Cup host city. Sport-Engineering is the stadium’s developer. On 2 November 2017, the field in the stadium received its first mowing. The stadium hosted its first match on 21 April 2018, a football match between Mordovia and FC Zenit-Izhevsk.

At the end of 2017, the new stadium in Saransk took its final appearance intended by the design. The finished steel skeleton of the arena was covered with finishing panels, serving as the key design feature of the construction. The surrounding ground was improved, the indoor premises were finished and elevators were installed. The construction of the stadium made it possible to solve a number of large-scale urban planning problems for the provincial city: a new park has been

This page also has a version in other languages :  Мордовия Арена (russian)