Russia to Build New Stadium in Sevastopol

Russia to Build New Stadium in Sevastopol

Sevastopol, located in the disputed territory of Crimea, will receive 85m rubles ($1.3m) of funding in 2016 for the design and construction of a football stadium and sports complex as part of the Russian government’s program for the Development of Physical Culture and Sport in the Russian Federation 2016-20.

Speaking to the Russian news agency TASS, the Head of the Department for Youth and Sport, Ruslan Savchenko said: “In general, the federal program takes into account mass sporting facilities which do not cost more than 100 million rubles ($1.5m). Crimea and Sevastopol, however, are a higher-priority now so we have been allocated more money. In 2016 alone we will receive 85 million rubles for the reconstruction of the Gornyak football stadium and the sports complex named in honour of the 200th Anniversary of Sevastopol, where a 50-meter swimming pool is planned to be built.”

In addition, the Russian Minister for Sport, Vitaly Mutko, has recently declared that Crimean sports infrastructure can be improved within five to six years. His words were: “We will start constructing stadiums, swimming pools and also complete the construction of unfinished facilities.”

On Thursday March 31, the Russian government allocated $59m to the improvement of sports infrastructure throughout the country. This money will be spent on a variety of logistical improvements in Russian youth sport including the purchase of artificial turf for children’s football schools.

This recent decision is a classic Crimean PR stunt on the part of the Russian government as they attempt to legitimize their controversial annexation of the region. Of course, local authorities in Crimea will be delighted that development of sports facilities in their region is a priority for the government, but this action will lead many other undeveloped regions of Russia to question why they seem to have been pushed to the back of the queue, particularly at a time when money is tight and with the 2018 World Cup on the horizon.

Click here for more articles about football in Crimea.

By Thomas Giles –

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