Luzhniki Stadium Moscow
2008 UEFA Champions League Final Venue
The Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow was been selected to host the 2008 Champions League final. The stadium is the home of Russian league clubs Spartak Moscow and Torpedo Moscow. The stadium is easily the largest, best equipped and most modern football stadium in Russia. The structure sits on the banks of the Moskva River and is located within the Luzhniki Olympic complex.
The massive stadium, originally known as the Central Lenin Stadium, was constructed in the 1950s and then renovated during the 1970s to host the 1980 Summer Olympics. After the Olympics the capacity of the Luzhniki stadium was reduced by approximately 20,000 seats as the owners adapted it for use as a soccer stadium.
Today the Luzhniki Stadium offers covered seating for approximately 85,000 spectators and features a circular bowl design that offers unobstructed view from all vantage points. The Stadium has adopted extensive safety features following the tragic events in 1982 when 66 people were trampled as they tried to flee crowd violence during a football game.
Luzhniki Stadium Pitch
The Luzhniki Stadium is unique in that it features an artificial pitch as a protection against the ravages of Moscow's harsh climate. Maintaining a regular grass pitch fit for use by professional footballers is virtually impossible given the extreme winter temperatures, and as a result the grass pitch was replaced by a FieldTurf pitch in 2002.
Stadium management decided to remove the FieldTurf for the 2008 Champions League final, replacing it with a standard grass pitch that was laid specifically for use in the final.
UEFA Champions League Football Controversy
Despite the fact that the Luzhniki Stadium carries a five-star UEFA ranking, doubt was cast over the venue's suitability for hosting a final. This is largely due to the ticketing debacle in Athens during the 2007 Champions League final which proved the need for modern ticketing and stadium gate infrastructure for major football events. However, the 2008 UEFA Champions League Final passed incident free.
