Russian Farmer Builds Football Stadium Out Of Straw In Protest At Spiralling Cost Of New Zenit St Petersburg Arena (Photos)

Chris Wright

25th, July 2017

Photo: @AP_Sports/Twitter

A farmer from Russia has built an entire stadium using straw in a gentle mockery of the spiralling costs incurred by his football team, Zenit St Petersburg, and their vastly expensive new stadium.

Indeed, Zenit has reportedly spent in the region of £550million building and opening their new eponymous 64,000-capacity arena in time for the 2018 World Cup.

Roman Ponomaryov’s straw version cost a mere £500 and is a damn sight more eco-friendly…

The straw arena was built using 4,500 hay bales in a field on Ponomaryov’s farm in the southerly Stavropol region of Russia.

According to the Associated Press, it can seat 300 people and has already played host to its inaugural tournament, with several local teams competing in a round-robin competition last weekend.

It was also created as a satirical comment about the new Zenit Arena, its bloated budget and its controversial construction.

Speaking to reporters, Ponomaryov said:

It’s good to get people excited and create a sports atmosphere ahead of the World Cup.

But it seemed pretty strange… how the cost of the [Zenit] stadium and its construction time-frame were increasing.

Apparently Zenit are aware of the straw stadium and have accepted it in “good humour”, offering Ponomaryov a complimentary ticket to an upcoming match at the actual Zenit Arena as a gesture of goodwill.

Posted in International football, Newsnow, World Cup

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