Luzhniki Stadium

The 1980 Summer Olympics opening ceremony

On 23 December 1954, the Government of the USSR adopted a resolution on the construction of a stadium in the Luzhniki area in Moscow.[11] The decision of the Soviet Government was a response to a specific current international situation: By the early 1950s, Soviet athletes took to the world stage for the first time after World War II (rus. the Great Patriotic War), participating in the Olympic Games. The 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki brought the Soviet team 71 medals (of which 22 gold) and second place in the unofficial team standings.[12]

It was a major success, but the increased athletic development of the Soviet Union, which was a matter of state policy, required the construction of a new sports complex. The proposed complex was to meet all modern international standards and at the same time serve as a training base for the Olympic team and arena for large domestic and international competitions.

The stadium was built in 1955–56 as the Grand Arena of the Central Lenin Stadium. The design began in January 1955 and was completed in 90 days[13] by the architects Alexander Vlasov, Igor Rozhin, Nikolai Ullas, Alexander Khryakov and engineers Vsevolod Nasonov, Nikolai Reznikov, Vasily Polikarpov.[14] Building materials came from Leningrad and the Armenian SSR, electrical and oak beams for the spectator benches from the Ukrainian SSR, furniture from Riga and Kaunas, glass was brought from Minsk, electrical equipment from Podolsk in Moscow Oblast, and larch lumber from Irkutsk in Siberia. It was necessary to demolish a whole area of dilapidated buildings (including the Trinity Church, which is supposed to be restored). Because the soil was heavily waterlogged, almost the entire area of the foundations of the complex had to be raised half a meter. 10,000 piles were hammered into the ground and dredgers reclaimed about 3 million cubic metres of soil. The total area of the stadium occupies 160 hectares.[15] Eight thousand people moved home to make place for the stadium. The Church Tikhvin, an architectural monument of the 18th century was moved, too.[16]

The stadium was officially opened on 31 July 1956,[17] with a friendly football match between the RSFSR and China. 100 thousand spectators welcomed the event.[18][19] The stadium was built in just 450 days. It was the national stadium of the Soviet Union, and is now the national stadium of Russia.[20] In 1960 a 26-foot bronze statue of Lenin by sculptor Matvei Manizer, which was created for Expo 58 in Brussel, was placed on the square in front of the main stadium entrance.[3][21]

Luzhniki Stadium during the 1980 Summer Olympics

In 1976-1979 the sports complex was repaired for the first time.[22] The stadium was the chief venue for the 1980 Summer Olympics,[23] the spectator capacity being 103,000 at that time. The events hosted in this stadium were the opening and closing ceremonies, athletics, football finals, and the individual jumping grand prix.[24] Then General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee and Chairperson of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet Leonid Brezhnev declared the XXII Summer Olympic Games open.[25]

On 20 October 1982, disaster struck during a UEFA Cup match between FC Spartak Moscow and HFC Haarlem. 66 people died in the stampede,[26] which made it Russia's worst sporting disaster and most famous cover-up at the time.

Luzhniki Stadium in 2009

In the spring of 1992, the state enterprise, including the sports complex, was privatized and renamed the Luzhniki Olympic Complex, and by June of the same year, Lenin's name was removed.[27] An extensive renovation in 1996 saw the construction of a roof over the stands, and the refurbishment of the seating areas, resulting in a decrease in capacity.[17] Till the renovation, the stadium could accommodate 81 thousand people.[28]

In 1998, the stadium was listed by UEFA in the list of 5-star European football stadiums.[29]

The stadium hosted the 1999 UEFA Cup Final in which Parma defeated Marseille in the second UEFA Cup final to be played as a single fixture.[30]

The Luzhniki Stadium was chosen by the UEFA to host the 2008 UEFA Champions League Final won by Manchester United who beat Chelsea in the first all-English Champions League final on 21 May. The match passed incident-free and a spokesman for the British Embassy in Moscow said, "The security and logistical arrangements put in place by the Russian authorities have been first-rate, as has been their cooperation with their visiting counterparts from the UK."[31]

In August 2013, the stadium hosted the World Athletics Championships.[32]

The renovated stadium

The original stadium was demolished in 2013 to give a way for the construction of a new stadium. However, the self-supported cover was retained. The facade wall was retained as well, due to its architectural value, and was later reconnected to the new building. Construction of the new stadium was completed in 2017.[33] The total cost of repairs was 24 billion rubles.[34]

The 2018 FIFA World Cup was held in Russia with the Luzhniki Stadium selected as the venue for the opening match and also the final, which was held on 15 July 2018. For the 2018 World Cup the stadium organized six checkpoints with 39 inspection lanes and seven pedestrian points with 427 points for the passage of spectators. About 900 scanners, 3000 cameras and monitors were installed. Special seats were provided for fans with disabilities.[35] The stadium's capacity was increased from 78,000 to 81,000 seats,[36] partly caused by the removal of the athletics track around the pitch. In 2018 FIFA named the stadium as best arena in the world.[37]

The stadium joins Rome's Stadio Olimpico, London's old Wembley Stadium, Berlin's Olympiastadion and Munich's Olympiastadion as the only stadiums to have hosted the finals of the FIFA World Cup and UEFA's European Cup/Champions League and featured as a main stadium of the Summer Olympic Games. Saint Denis' Stade de France is scheduled to become another in 2024.

The stadium prior to the 2018 FIFA World Cup Final kick-off

During the World Cup, Luzhniki had six access control stations with 39 inspection lines, and seven access control points with 427 entrances for fans arriving on foot. The grounds were serviced by 3,000 surveillance cameras and about 900 scanners, monitors, and detectors.[52]

The stadium stands included special observation areas for people with disabilities, which offered space for wheelchairs and accompanying persons. In addition, after the reconstruction, the stadium was equipped with special extra-wide seats for plus-size spectators. Additional services for spectators available at the stadium: navigation assistance from volunteers, storage rooms, registration of children, lost and found office, and audio descriptive commentary for blind or visually impaired fans.