The Moscow City Government approved the draft plan of the “Luzhniki” stadium area planning. The facility reconstruction will cost 83.5 billion roubles. At that, 39.5 billion roubles will be allocated from the city budget.

      Only the replacement of engineering structures which were changed in 1980 for the last time, will take 13.4 billion roubles. In general, the project involves not only reconstruction, but also the construction of the new facilities, including the centre for unarmed self-defense development, sports and commercial centre, sports hotel, football arena, international broadcasting centres.

      The “Luzhniki” stadium will not be demolished, it will be upgraded with the preservation of its historic look, “Interfax” reports referring to the acting head of the construction department of Moscow Andrey Bochkarev. “We do not want to demolish this facility, we will reconstruct it, this reconstruction will be made by experts, then we will be able to use it for the country and for Moscow, not only for specific and not always universal decisions of the International Football Federation (FIFA)” - Bochkarev said.

      The Luzhniki Stadium, previously called the Central Lenin Stadium, is the biggest sports stadium in Russia. Its total seating capacity is 78,360 seats, all covered. The stadium is a part of the Luzhniki Olympic Complex, and is located in Khamovniki District of the Central Administrative Okrug of Moscow city. The name Luzhniki derives from the flood meadows in the bend of Moskva River where the stadium was built, translating roughly as "The Meadows".

      Its field is used mainly for football games by Torpedo Moscow club, who also own the sports complex, and Spartak Moscow, as well as being one of the home grounds of the Russian national football team. It is one of the few major European stadia to use an artificial pitch, having installed a FIFA-approved FieldTurf pitch in 2002. The pitch is necessary because regular grass pitches cannot withstand the harsh Russian winters and must be replaced at high cost. However, a temporary natural grass pitch was installed for the 2008 Champions League Final. The stadium is also used from time to time for various other sporting events and for concerts.