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Russia 2018…let’s pour tons and tons of concrete!

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    Russia 2018…let’s pour tons and tons of concrete!

    Most of you are likely way more knowledgeable of the next world cup than I so I explored the locations for the 2018 version. The farthest east site is Yekatarinburg. Kaliningrad is the farthest west location and Sochi is the farthest south.

    Expected that, unlike Brazil, Russia may have to only build a couple of stadiums, but that most would just need some upgrades. This is apparently not the situation. Other than Yekatarinburg and Moscow’s Luzhniki stadium, the remaining 10 will be rebuilt or brand new (the Sochi stadium shouldn’t be too tough, but I’m not an architect). Is this because the existing stadia are really shit and/or have a small capacity?

    Is there a spec sheet of minimum FIFA’s stadium demands? I went to a couple of games at the Cotton Bowl for the WC in 1994. I had not been there since 1987 and seven years later the stadium did not look a whole lot different. The Rose Bowl and Stanford Stadium were also pretty spartan but I don't recall thousands of fans holding their noses going in.

    Glad to see Moscow get two venues. It was pretty idiotic to build that stadium in Manaus when it seemed that Rio or Sao Paolo could have easily added another one.

    Did not pay a lot of attention to either the US or England bid. The US stadium possibilities did not surprise me at all, though I remember reading that existing stadiums would still have to spend millions to placate FIFA.


    But for England??? Milton Keynes? Plymouth? No chance of TWO grounds in London or TWO grounds in Manchester being used? Why Newcastle Gateshead and not just Newcastle? Was St. James Park out of the picture and a “New” stadium built?


    Still see Russia dicking around and having those stadiums ready no sooner than what Brazil did. Hope the graft is not insane, but if the country poured in $50 billion for the Winter Olympics why not $100 billion for 2018?

    #2
    Russia 2018…let’s pour tons and tons of concrete!

    One of SB Nation's soccer writers imagined what a US World Cup would look like and where it would be. Apparently neither the Coliseum or the Rose Bowl would be up to FIFA's standards currently. I don't think they could do a USA World Cup without it being in LA, but that might just be my biases talking.

    http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2014/7/15/5899255/world-cup-2022-usa-host-cities

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      #3
      Russia 2018…let’s pour tons and tons of concrete!

      Thanks Inca.

      This part from the article did answer one of my questions:
      FIFA requires that all World Cup stadiums be all-seaters, with back rests. That means benches are a no-go. They also require that stadiums have one covered stand for the press and VIP's, something that most stadiums can work around with their vast press boxes, suites and premium seating that don't exist in many venues around the world.

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        #4
        Russia 2018…let’s pour tons and tons of concrete!

        Cal Alamein wrote: Why Newcastle Gateshead and not just Newcastle?
        I think it's simply because poor overlooked Gateshead likes to reflect in Newcastle's cosmopolitan glamour.

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          #5
          Russia 2018…let’s pour tons and tons of concrete!

          Cal Alamein wrote: Why Newcastle Gateshead and not just Newcastle?
          Because that's the shitey brand they promote the place(s) under: of course the FA fuck it up by not modishly running into AllOneWord like the fucking idiots who came up with the branding in the first place did.

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            #6
            Russia 2018…let’s pour tons and tons of concrete!

            Isn't it just the two sides of the river?

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              #7
              Russia 2018…let’s pour tons and tons of concrete!

              Cal Alamein wrote: Other than Yekatarinburg and Moscow’s Luzhniki stadium, the remaining 10 will be rebuilt or brand new (the Sochi stadium shouldn’t be too tough, but I’m not an architect). Is this because the existing stadia are really shit and/or have a small capacity?
              My guess would be the answer to the last question is 'yes'. Russia hasn't needed 45,000 capacity grounds, so they don't much exist. However, things are expanding rapidly over there as far as I'm aware, as the oil money sloshes around and more high class foreigners are imported. The chances are that a general rebuilding and expansion programme would have been underway anyway.
              For instance, the new Moscow stadium is going to be Spartak's first proper home in ages, rather than them lodging at the Luzhniki. This is something that a World Cup has faciliatated rather than being solely developed for that purpose. CSKA and Dinamo Moscow are also building their own new grounds at the moment, which won't be used for the World Cup. Lokomtiv Moscow also have a recently opened ground, which is to a very good standard. But at a shade under 30,000 is too small for the World Cup. So Moscow is going to have five modern, high class stadiums inside the next five years. But then, London can boast a similar number, and a similar number of important top flight clubs.

              As for the others, the old venues are too small or too old-fashioned. See Rubin Kazan's old ground, Zenit's current home and their occasional old one, in the Communist brutalist open bowl style.

              Here is worldstadiums.com's current list of Russian sporting arenas.

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                #8
                Russia 2018…let’s pour tons and tons of concrete!

                The England WC campaign appears to have been launched from the 1970s. No wonder they didn't win it.

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                  #9
                  Russia 2018…let’s pour tons and tons of concrete!

                  What will the local kick-off times have to be if FIFA wants to maintain this year's structure of 3 games a day at three-hour intervals that suit western Europe TV slots?

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                    #10
                    Russia 2018…let’s pour tons and tons of concrete!

                    Vast majority of venues are UTC+4:00. Just Kaliningrad (+3) and Yekaterinburg (+6) in other time zones.

                    So kick-offs at 6pm, 9pm and midnight local, with Yekaterinburg never hosting the third match of a day?

                    Given that Champions League games regularly kick-off at 19:45 UTC, it shouldn't be too much of a shock to local fans.

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                      #11
                      Russia 2018…let’s pour tons and tons of concrete!

                      It's too bad that Spain is skint, as otherwise I'm sure that the Cervantes Institute would be pleased to sponsor a round of cultural activities and siesta tips for those attending the midnight games.

                      Perhaps they could get the NCAA to give them some tips on Midnight Madness celebrations.

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                        #12
                        Russia 2018…let’s pour tons and tons of concrete!

                        Scratch that slightly. Does Russia use Daylight Saving Time in summers? If not, then the times come forward by one hour.

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                          #13
                          Russia 2018…let’s pour tons and tons of concrete!

                          Double scratch that.
                          i) Russia doesn't do daylight saving.
                          ii) Moscow Time is permanently changing from UTC+4:00 to UTC+3:00 later this year.

                          So in summer 2018 there will just be one hour difference between the time at all but one venue and Central European Time, two to Western European (i.e. UK, Ireland and Portugal) time.

                          So probably looking at 4pm, 7pm and 10pm kick-offs local, and Yekaterinburg only having 7pm and 10pm.

                          The Duma voted on the latest change two weeks ago. The previous change from UTC+3 in winter and UTC+4 in summer was only approved in 2011.

                          God knows what the situaiton will be by 2018!

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                            #14
                            Russia 2018…let’s pour tons and tons of concrete!

                            FIFA considering reduction in number of stadia for Russia 2018.

                            FIFA is rethinking the format for Russia because as many as three of the stadiums built for the 2010 edition in South Africa are now under-utilized or unused, Blatter said. Blatter met with Russian President Vladimir Putin before yesterday’s final.

                            FIFA is discussing “what is the ideal number for the organization and to keep it in such a manner that it’s feasible, reasonable, controllable,” Blatter said.
                            In related news, a judge in Manaus has suggested that their white elephant stadium could be used as as a prison.

                            “I see no other better place, even temporarily, to receive detainees in Manaus,” Marques, president of the watchdog group tasked with monitoring the prison system in the Amazon region, told reporters. He also suggested prisoners be processed at a venue used to celebrate the annual carnival. “Until the state can solve the problem by building new prisons then these two empty spaces should be used,” he said, in remarks confirmed by court officials.

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                              #15
                              Russia 2018…let’s pour tons and tons of concrete!

                              Thing is, these stadiums are mostly in sensible locations with a current or very recently former top flight club who can use them. And are replacing relatively small and somewhat dilapidated venues. About the only stadium that isn't true of is in Sochi, and that one already exists and needs to host World Cup matches to stop it being even more of a white elephant.

                              The issue isn't building the grounds, it is building them with capacities of 40,000+ when 30,000 would be quite adequate for the requirements of the clubs.

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                                #16
                                Russia 2018…let’s pour tons and tons of concrete!

                                Janik wrote:
                                Given that Champions League games regularly kick-off at 19:45 UTC, it shouldn't be too much of a shock to local fans.
                                Champions League matches in Russia kick off at 17:00 UTC (unless it's the final).

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                                  #17
                                  Russia 2018…let’s pour tons and tons of concrete!

                                  As I've said before, by 2022, the US could do even better than that map shows. LA will probably have a brand new stadium. San Diego might have one too. Minneapolis will definitely have a new one.

                                  And it will be way better than 94. Instead of Stanford, they'll have the 49ers new park in Santa Clara. Instead of the Cotton Bowl, they could use Jerry World.

                                  I don't understand why Soldier Field in Chicago isn't on that map. Too narrow? Given the time of year and climate change, the more games in the north the better, so Ford Field in Detroit and Heinz Field in Pittsburgh should be on the list too. They really should stay the fuck out of Florida.

                                  Although it will probably be hot and shitty, with the occasional tornado and hailstorm, regardless, and right now the midwest is getting autumnal weather, such is the craziness of climate change and US weather in general.

                                  If Qatar really blows up as it should, then I'd think (hope) the US bidders could have some leverage to tell FIFA where it can stick it's extra requirements.

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                                    #18
                                    Russia 2018…let’s pour tons and tons of concrete!

                                    I think the knock on Soldier Field is that it is "small" by NFL standards, only holding 61,500. Lucas Oil in Indianapolis (an obvious comp) holds 70,000.

                                    Liverpool are playing at Soldier Field later this month, and New Zealand are playing the US in a rugby international in the fall, so I don't think the dimensions of the field are an issue.

                                    I would hope that the massive turnout for the World Cup viewing parties in Chicago would help the city's case for being a host.

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                                      #19
                                      Russia 2018…let’s pour tons and tons of concrete!

                                      Plus Chicago is USSF's home, and they've hosted some recent US friendly(ies) (was it the Germany game?), so it would be very strange not to have a game there and pick Indianapolis instead for a (theoretical) event with thousands of worldwide visitors coming in. No offense to Indy, which does have a cool new bike trail all over the central area, and Indy Eleven.

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                                        #20
                                        Russia 2018…let’s pour tons and tons of concrete!

                                        And this is always an option.


                                        Yes, that's Wrigley Field.

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                                          #21
                                          Russia 2018…let’s pour tons and tons of concrete!

                                          The hotel situation for visitors is going to be horrendous at places like Kazan or Ekatarinburg. This is not going to be a good venue for traveling fans.

                                          Three issues with the US bid, turf quality as many of these stadia are artificial turf grounds that need to have temporary grass put in. The oppressive weather in half of these venues might actually be a bigger issue than in Qatar because most US games would be held midday, whereas in Qatar starting times would be played late at night local time. The other issue is visas for visitors, fans from many countries are going to be shut out.

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                                            #22
                                            Russia 2018…let’s pour tons and tons of concrete!

                                            The grass is no problem.

                                            The weather would be no worse than in Brazil and a number of these venues have retractable roofs so it could be kept nice during the match. FIFA could also use some common sense about scheduling and not insist that games between, for example, two Asian teams be on at 8 pm GMT/3 PM ET.

                                            The Visas could be an issue. But this might help draw attention to that problem and encourage changes.

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                                              #23
                                              Russia 2018…let’s pour tons and tons of concrete!

                                              look at the malaysian airlines threads on world. fuck russia 2018. give it to england.

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                                                #24
                                                Russia 2018…let’s pour tons and tons of concrete!

                                                I didn't want to post it on Twitter, but it didn't take long after the news yesterday for me to think "how's Russia 2018 looking now?".

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                                                  #25
                                                  Russia 2018…let’s pour tons and tons of concrete!

                                                  My thought process exactly.

                                                  Vlad was lucky to be back from Brazil. That would have been awkward even for Sepp.

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