A soccer stadium in Russia needed to devise a quick solution for a big problem: One of the stadiums being used in the 2018 World Cup was too small to meet FIFA standards, so a stand was added — outside the stadium.
Surreal photos of Russian stadium that added seats OUTSIDE THE ARENA to be World Cup compliant
Make sure your Russia World Cup tickets are actually inside the stadium.
James Dator has been covering a wide range of sports for SB Nation for over a decade, with a special focus on the NFL.
This is the Ekaterinburg Arena, home of FC Ural in the Russian Premier League. It’s been pegged to be a host stadium for the 2018 World Cup, but it had only 27,000 seats. This is a problem, as FIFA’s “Stadium Requirements Handbook” told Russia how many seats needed to be available, and the Ekaterinburg Arena was short.
Rather that constructing a new stadium, a new stand was added outside the arena on massive scaffolding, ballooning the capacity from 27,000 to 45,000. The stand is only temporary and will be removed after the World Cup — but it’s unlike anything we’ve seen before.
Watching a game from the stand is almost like seeing it on a giant TV screen because of how the stadium walls frame things:
The whole structure just looks terrifying.
AFP/Getty Images
AFP/Getty Images
AFP/Getty Images
AFP/Getty Images
AFP/Getty Images
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