On the occasion of the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Top 16 game between CSKA Moscow and Unicaja Malaga on Thursday, Euroleague Basketball President and CEO Jordi Bertomeu visited the Russian capital and toured the arena that the Russian champs expect to play in next season.
Mr. Bertomeu was accompanied by PBC CSKA president Andrey Vatutin to the Arena of Legends in central Moscow, construction of which is expected to be complete in the middle of this year. The multi-sport arena is part of a brand-new complex that will include a hotel, an aquatics center, business offices, a convention center and more. CSKA Moscow plans to play the 2015-16 Turkish Airlines Euroleague season in the new facility.
“Just as CSKA keeps winning on the court, the club’s plans to move to this new arena will be nothing but positive for its many fans in Moscow, who deserve a first-class facility that reflects the quality of their team,” Mr. Bertomeu said. “Euroleague Basketball is also pleased with CSKA’s plans because a new, modern arena will allow our sport to grow in Russia, just as similar projects have done in Germany, Turkey and other countries. This is a great step in giving fans the best possible venues across Europe in which to enjoy the sport they love, basketball.”
Mr. Vatutin said that the Arena of Legends will have a capacity for 13,000 basketball fans and feature 80 luxury suites. He added that besides state-of-the-art amenities for lighting, video screens and parking, the arena will be easy to reach for Muscovites and visitors.
“We receive a lot of questions about the arena situation every year. Our dear USH CSKA is definitely comfortable but it does not meet the requirements of modern sport in means of both conditions and regulations. Now the situation is very close to being solved: Moscow will get the new sports hall when the new season starts and we can be proud of that,” Mr Vatutin said. “This is a good challenge for the club’s management, to have 12 or 13 thousand fans in the stands. Definitely, you can’t solve this task in just one season, but this is our maximum goal. I would like to thank the Arena of Legends management, which believes in our project. And I am glad that the Euroleague president, Jordi Bertomeu, had a chance to see himself the perspective for our club to play in the new arena.”
Source: Euroleague.net
