Stadia: Sports facilities offer a glimpse into President Putin’s modernisation agenda

Group B - Portugal vs Spain - Fisht Stadium, Sochi, Russia - June 15, 2018 General view before the match REUTERS

Russian stadia make Kenya’s Kasarani, Nyayo child play

Luzhniki and 11 other state-of-the-art sports facilities show how Kenyans are light years behind modernity.

A Kenyan visiting the Luzhniki Stadium will leave the venue wondering what wrong did his/her countrymen do, not to deserve anything close to such an architectural piece of work.

The imposing facility here in Moscow makes a mockery of Kenyan government’s half-hearted renovation of Nyayo Stadium, Kasarani Stadium and mushrooming, but poorly conceptualised stadia at various counties.

Russia, often derided as an inward-looking country but menacing to the rest of the world, is way ahead of most European nations, not to mention Africa.

It would also be unfair to judge President Vladimir Putin’s record by a narrow political prism and not look at his endeavours to improve the quality of the lives of Russians.

Luzhniki Stadium offers a glimpse into President Putin’s agenda to modernize Russia. With the Fifa World Cup offering an opportunity to sink money in sports, President Putin made it his number one priority to construct state-of-art facilities.

And only last week, he ordered that the facilities should not lie idle at the end of the games.

“A modern stadium is not just a football pitch, you can put anything you want there. You can install stores, cafes, restaurants and special gyms,” Putin told media just before the opening ceremony on Thursday.

Luzhniki is one of the 12 stadiums constructed for the World Cup.

Built along the Moscow River, Luzhniki Stadium is awe-inspiring having been rebuilt to meet the Fifa standards for the 2018 World Cup.

The make over of the stadium brought the stands closer to the pitch improving the fans’ experience with an unobstructed view of action.

The seating area has new concourses and staircases that give good access to the upper tiers and boxes. Between the two seating tiers are 100 VIP boxes, with capacity for 1,950 spectators – which corporates buy at premium prizes.

A new roof was also installed. Luzhniki is named after the lush grass and non-woody vegetation (meadows) along River Moscow.

Unlike Kasarani, whose parts have been grabbed by private developers, the huge Luzhniki edifice sits on 180-acres of land that also has several other sporting complexes that has made Russia a sporting power in the world.

Moscovites throng the complex every other day to hone the talent besides being popular place for recreation and family strolls.

Initially constructed in 1956, the stadium hosted the 1960 Olympic Games, which Kenya boycotted at the height of Cold War.

In the 1950s and 1960s, the stadium was called Lenin Central Stadium.