Industry News

St Petersburg Stadium pitch relayed ahead of Confederations Cup

Officials at the much-troubled St. Petersburg Stadium have said the new venue is now ready to host games at this year’s Fifa Confederations Cup after a new pitch was installed for the national football team tournament.

Although the stadium has only staged two football games since opening earlier this year, the playing surface has come under heavy criticism after it cut up badly during both matches.

The stadium is also due to host matches during the Confederations Cup, which is set to take place in Russia next month, as well as games at the Fifa World Cup in the country next year, and the stadium has come under pressure to improve the quality of the playing surface.

The new pitch is the third to be installed at St. Petersburg Stadium after the first one died and will replace the one that attracted criticism during the two league matches that have already been played at the venue.

Citing a report by the TASS news agency, the RT.com website said the new pitch has been entirely funded by Zenit St. Petersburg, the Russian Premier League team that will now play its home matches at the venue.

Image: Andrew Shiva