‘The stadium should be used not only for football’: Ak Bars Arena inspected before the start of the Russian Premier League
Rubin FC from Kazan is going to open another fan shop in the centre of the capital of Tatarstan, and the administration of Ak Bars Arena wants to remove the bars from the stands. This became known after an inspection of the stadium before the start of the new season of the Russian Premier League, which starts on July 20. Minister of Sports of Tatarstan Vladimir Leonov, General Director of Rubin Alexander Aybatov and General Director of Ak Bars Arena Radik Minnakhmetov said that the field was put in order after singer Basta’s concert, and the stadium itself should be used not only for football. Read more about it in a report of Realnoe Vremya.
Fan ID stereotype
For many years now, the fan identification card, or Fan ID without which one cannot get to RPL matches, has been the stumbling block of Russian football. After its launch, stadium attendance fell sharply, and fans of some teams even organised boycotts. Rubin FC from Kazan whose home stadium is Ak Bars Arena encountered innovations only last year after its triumph in the First League — the team spent the 2022/2023 season in the Football National League, where Fan ID has not yet been introduced. And there were some questions related to the technical readiness of the arena for the system. However, according to Minister of Sports of Tatarstan Vladimir Leonov, the problems were resolved.
“That year everything was put in order, and the season went great from the point of view of these services. Therefore, in general, today we are not making any such large huge investments in the stadium. “Everything is working properly,” he assured the audience.
Rubin Director General Alexander Aybatov did not provide the exact number of fan passports issued and explained why:
“Not all people who have already issued a Fan ID go to watch football for sure. The numbers are good, especially since Fan ID can be issued at each match before entering the stadium.”
“We need to forget this stereotype [about the difficulty of obtaining a fan card], issuing a Fan ID costs nothing at all,” added the sinister of sport.
“You open it once, and then you go with it to any event for the rest of your life.” Not only for football in Kazan but for any football stadium of a RPL club.
Expected problems with the grass after Basta's concert
Another issue is the condition of the football field, which has repeatedly caused controversy. Former Rubin head coach Leonid Slutsky constantly complained about the bad grass, but this was three years ago. However, reports of damaged grass on the field have recently appeared again — after a concert of rapper Basta at Ak Bars Arena, which took place on 9 June.
“It was expected that after the concert there would be some problems with the grass, but literally 10 days passed and everything was restored. “This was planned,” Director General of the stadium Radik Minnakhmetov assured the audience.
Both Vladimir Leonov and Alexander Aibatov said that the field was fine.
“The pitch allows us to show high-quality football, the rest is up to us,” emphasised the director general of Rubin.
The minister of sport specifically focused on football-related events:
“Everything is approved. We remember that there were complaints a long time ago when we tried to host not only football but also football-related events. But there is consistency with the club. We believe that the stadium should be used for more than just football. This is normal, this is international practice. You just need to do it carefully, on time. We have had a lot of experience here, there have been many events here. And not every stadium in our country, and not only in our country, can boast of what we have done here.”
Back to the pitch. According to Radik Minnakhmetov, with the help of agronomists and special services, the pitch withstood the 35-degree heatwave in Kazan. And he casually mentioned plans to remove the bars from the guests’ stand, but it is still necessary to hear the opinion of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on this issue:
“There are many questions regarding security, but we are working on it.”
“For Tatarstan, Rubin is a big brand”
Vladimir Leonov also spoke about Rubin’s plans to open a new fan shop. There are now two club stores — at Ak Bars Arena and the Central Stadium.
“The club has history, maybe we should set up a club store somewhere in the city centre because there is demand,” Leonov said citing a big tourist flow: “For Tatarstan, Rubin is a big brand.”
He expressed confidence that the store will be popular, since now everything related to media is gaining momentum.
Football must be watched at the stadium
As for the stadium in general, according to Vladimir Leonov, there are “no problems or questions.”
“We are solving problems in due course, fortunately, there is complete understanding. Today the most important thing for us is to start the season well so that the club has a great away match and then return on 27 July here to Ak Bars Arena. We will meet the champion of our country — Zenit from Saint Petersburg. We hope many fans will come. As far as I know, sales have already started and season tickets are on sale.”
As the head of the ministry of sport emphasised, the club has gained good speed in recent years.
“We wish Rubin good luck, we want it to set goals and win victories in every match because we believe in our team. We are Rubin, we cannot be defeated! Well, we, managers of facilities of our infrastructure in Tatarstan, together with Radik [Minnakhmetov, head of Ak Bars Arena], of course, will create the best conditions for everyone to feel comfortable here, for all those spectators who come to football because you must watch it live. Football is such a big emotional event, especially when the weather is great. I will repeat once again that we have brought everything at the stadium into compliance, everything is working — the Fan ID system, the security system,” Vladimir Leonov convinced the audience.
“Excited, emotional in a good way, such a fighting person”
The minister briefly touched on the issue of Rubin's squad — midfielders Mikhail Kostyukov, Leon Musayev, Maciej Rybus, Lazar Ranđelović, defender Alexander Martynovich and, of course, goalkeeper Yury Dupin who replaced Matvey Safonov who left the club and joined PSG. At the same time, goalkeeper Arthur Nigmatullin, midfielder Aleksandar Jukić joined the team, attacker Joel Fameye and others returned.
“We see the desire to win. The end of the season was wonderful. It is clear that the new squad, some talented guys, unfortunately, I’ll say as a fan, left the club. But we need to see the future, we need to move forward, we need to work with those who are here today,” said the minister of sport.
Vladimir Leonov also mentioned the team’s head coach Rashid Rakhimov who extended his contract until 2026 in May:
“Here, of course, it is the work of the coaching staff, the head coach himself — he is excited, emotional in a good way, such a fighting person. And I think that Rubin should always set the highest goals with whatever squad.”
