Donbass Arena is a soccer stadium located in Donetsk, Ukraine. The stadium is located southwards to the famous Leninskogo Komsomolo Park. The Donbass Arena derives its name from Donetsk Basin which is an industrial area of great significance in the state.
The arena is owned and operated by the Shakhtyor Donetsk Football Club and can seat 52,187 spectators. The stadium also serves as the home ground for the Shakhtar Donetsk Football Club which invested around $400 million to build the arena. The glazing area of the stadium is 24,000 square metres.
History
The Donbass Arena was inaugurated on August 29, 2009 which is the Donetsk City Day too. The arena hosted it first match one month after its inauguration, when Shakhtar Donetsk FC defeated FC Obolon Kyiv 4-0.
Major Matches
The Donbass Arena hosted its first international tournament in the year 2012 when it hosted the Group D League matches of UEFA Euro 2012. Besides these league matches, the Donbass Arena also has the credit to host a Quarter Final and a Semi Final of that tournament.
Controversies
The Donbass Arena has been an issue under discussion in the sports universe, particularly football because it was operational only for a brief period of five years.
In the Pro Russian and Ukrainian military conflicts, this arena had to pay a heavy price as it was one of the targets of the artillery shells. This damaged the stadium upto an extent where no match could be organised.
The Shakhtar Donetsk Football Club moved its head office to Kiev, Ukraine after the conflict.
Recent Matches
This stadium has been abandoned since the Russian and Ukrainian military conflicts in the year 2014 due to the high degree of damage suffered by the arena.
No matches have taken place here in the recent past but there are chances that we can see a great deal of matches once again when the stadium is ready for hosting matches.
