Luzhniki Stadium may be taken down to build new stadium for WC 2018

The government of Moscow seems to be reluctant to invest in the reconstruction of Russia’s main stadium, Luzhniki, which is expected to cost 40 billion roubles (€1 billion). Now the officials are considering the possibility of its demolition and the construction of a new arena for the 2018 World Cup in its place. However, even in this case the current architectural shape of the Luzhniki may be preserved, according to Kommersant.

The final decision about the Luzhniki’s fate will be made in September by the mayor of Moscow Sergey Sobyanin. The consortium that includes Colliers International, Mott MacDonald, ARUP, Populous, and IMG should present to the mayor a development project for the whole Olympic Complex, which is now a 180 hectares territory with 140 buildings and facilities, Luzhniki main football arena being only one of them.

It’s worth noting that as of now the Luzhniki Stadium does not meet to FIFA requirements on capacity, which is now 78,400 instead of 89,300 people.