(ATR) Despite the loss of a football tenant to fill the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics stadium post-Games, organizers tell Around the Rings it's not a major blow for their legacy plans.
Zhemchuzhina Sochi in the Black Sea resort has folded because of financial problems. The second-division side was expected to move into the 40,000-seat stadium being built for the Sochi 2014 Games and then expanded for the Russia 2018 World Cup.
The club was planning to revamp the 46,000-seat 2018 venue, downsizing to a capacity of 25,000 after the FIFA finals.
That plan appears to have been abandoned, casting doubt on the stadium's long-term legacy after the World Cup.
But Sochi 2014 denies that the football club's financial collapse will leave a white elephant after the mega-events have left town.
"Sochi 2014 has carefully planned a wide-ranging legacy program to ensure the Games is not a one-off event, but a 'Gateway to the Future' that leaves a lasting social, sporting and environmental legacy for people in Sochi and across Russia," the Russian Olympic organizers told ATR in a statement.
"The central Olympic stadium has a number of planned functions post-Games, including hosting international matches for the Russian national football team and being one of the planned stadiums for the 2018 FIFA World Cup."
Information on the business plan to deliver a sustainable economic future for the stadium post-World Cup was not forthcoming.
Last September, ATR visited Zhemchuzhina Sochi's MetreveliStadium, little more than a glorified athletics facility on the outskirts of the Olympic city.
ATR was told about the grand ambitions of club president Dmitry Yakushev to take the team into the Russian Premier League.
Having already invested millions of dollars in the club with little reward, he now appears to have lost faith in the project and is instead focusing his efforts on multimillion-dollar retail and hotel projects in the 2014 host city.
Fencing Great for Russian Chef de Mission
Six-timeOlympic fencing medalist Pavel Kolobkov is Russia’s chef de mission for the 2012 Games.
NOC president Alexander Zhukov made the announcement Tuesday as Kolobkov and roughly 200 of his fellow chefs arrived in London for a four-day seminar on Games operations such as ticketing, accreditation and accommodation.
''I think it was a logical decision as I have the knowledge and many years of Olympic experience as an athlete,'' the five-time world champion said in a statement quoted by Reuters.
Kolobkov, 41, retired in 2005 after winning medals at five straight Summer Games, including individual epee gold in Sydney. He was named Russia’s deputy sports minister last year.
Reported by Mark Bisson and Christian Radnedge
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