Luzhniki Stadium

Capacity

84,745

The Grand Sports Arena of the Luzhniki Olympic Complex in Moscow, or briefly Luzhniki Stadium, is the biggest sports stadium in Russia. Its total seating capacity is 84,745 seats, all covered. The stadium is a part of the Luzhniki Olympic Complex, previously called the Central Lenin Stadium.

The Luzhniki Stadium hosted the 2008 UEFA Champions League final, where Manchester United overcame Chelsea FC on penalties.

Its field is used mainly for football games by Torpedo Moscow club, which is owned by the sports complex itself, and Spartak Moscow. It is also one of the few major European stadia to use an artificial pitch, as it installed a FIFA-approved FieldTurf pitch in 2002. The pitch is necessary for the cold Russian climate, as regular grass pitches are often destroyed during a typical winter and must be replaced at high cost. However, natural grass will be installed for the 2008 Champions League Final.

The Grand Arena of the Central Lenin Stadium was the chief venue for the 1980 Summer Olympics, the spectator capacity being 103,000 at that time. The events hosted in this stadium were the Opening and Closing ceremonies, Athletics, Football finals, and the Individual Jumping Grand Prix. The Luzhniki Stadium also hosted the final game of the 1957 Ice Hockey World Championship between Sweden and the Soviet Union, attended by a crowd of 55,000 and setting a new world record.

On October 20, 1982, disaster struck during the UEFA Cup match between FC Spartak Moscow and HFC Haarlem. Scores of people were trampled. The official number of deaths is 66 but many people believe this number to be significantly higher..

In 1989, the Lenin Stadium was the location for the Moscow Peace Festival. The Moscow Music Peace Festival was an effort by the Make A Difference Foundation and rock producers and organizers in the US and USSR. It was held over two days, and was essentially the first festival of its kind, that is, that openly was presenting Western heavy metal acts with an emphasis on international cooperation on preventing drug abuse. The festival featured artists such as Bon Jovi, Scorpions, Ozzy Osbourne, Skid Row, Mötley Crüe, Cinderella and Gorky Park

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