Russian police officers stand guard by Mordovia Arena in Saransk on May 4, 2018.
The 44,000-seater stadium will host four World Cup matches. / AFP PHOTO / Mladen ANTONOV
A 2018 Russia World Cup stadium looks a lot like a South African one
Mzansi is not impressed.
Russian police officers stand guard by Mordovia Arena in Saransk on May 4, 2018.
The 44,000-seater stadium will host four World Cup matches. / AFP PHOTO / Mladen ANTONOV
The 2018 World Cup is nearly upon us. We. Can’t. Wait. But before that kicks off, there’s the Premier League to deal with first… and after that, we need to talk about the Russian World Cup stadium that looks a lot like a South African one.
The stadium in Mordovia looks quite a lot to the one in Soweto. The stadiums have similar mosaic-like cladding around the exterior. Its one of nine stadiums purpose-built for the jamboree set to kick off in June.
While the South African architects have reportedly said they’re not fussed and Russian architects say that it’s just a coincidence, South Africans aren’t impressed.
As with most things we’re not impressed with, South Africans took to Twitter to share their thoughts.
The Mordovia Arena in ??
Looks familiar or is it just me seeing things pic.twitter.com/MWGNQqfzu7— Ur_Cousin✌? (@Madcool_U) May 4, 2018
#Russia stole our Stadium concept. Bletty Russian Copy Cats. I'm sure #Zuma sold the rights to #Putin and pocketed the cash. #WorldCup #Russia #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/H929EjqjRb
— Lwazisto (@Lwazistos) May 8, 2018
Russians say that their 2018 World Cup Stadium the Mordovia Arena’s similarity to FNB Stadium is purely ‘accidental coincidence’ ???? pic.twitter.com/5A9tPHZVaJ
— DiskiStyle (@DiskiStyle) May 8, 2018
The Mordovia Arena in ??
Looks familiar or is it just me seeing things pic.twitter.com/MWGNQqfzu7— Ur_Cousin✌? (@Madcool_U) May 4, 2018
When they copy your homework but make smallanyana changes. Russia's new 2018 World Cup Mordovia Arena compared to South Africa's 2010 Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg. ?? pic.twitter.com/LAIKi27Ag0
— Ulrich Janse van Vuuren (@UlrichJvV) May 8, 2018
https://twitter.com/Evxdence/status/994118916967460864?tfw_site=News24&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.news24.com%2FSouthAfrica%2FLife%2Fsouth-africans-unimpressed-by-similarities-between-russias-mordovia-arena-and-our-fnb-stadium-20180509
But one of Russians stadiums looking like FNB stadium is a complimentary to designers and architectures of ZA
— ?? (@Imsollyntuli) May 9, 2018
The 44 000 seater stadium was finished in April – but when construction started on it, the FNB Stadium had long since been completed.
Somebody has already noted the copy-job in the stadium’s Wikipedia entry. This is what the “design” subheading said at the time of writing – we’re pretty sure the “copied from Soccer City” will be removed, but humour us:
In the bid to host 2018 World Cup submitted to FIFA, Saransk’s new stadium was shown with a temporary design by German architect(copied from the Soccer City Stadium in South Africa, which hosted the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2010 FIFA Wolrd Cup) Tim Hupe.
For the final look of the stadium a local company “Saransk Grazhdan Proekt” was chosen. The simple bowl-shaped venue is to have acid orange seats and capacity for 44,442 people, but only in tournament mode. After the 2018 World Cup the upper stands are to be dismantled, decreasing capacity to 28,000. Between the stands left and the roof a promenade with retail and leisure spaces is to be created.
A bowl, hey? You mean a calabash, no?
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