(ATR) With less than 200 days to the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, the legacy of the main stadium remains shrouded in mystery.
The 40,000-capacity stadium, designed by US-based architects Populous, will be used for the opening and closing ceremonies next February. It will then be converted to stage part of the city's F1 race in the autumn, the first Russian Grand Prix in a century.
But between the Feb 7 to 23 Winter Olympics and Russia 2018 World Cup - and beyond FIFA’s flagship tournament - the stadium’s legacy plan remains ill-defined.
Like London 2012 organizers, whose legacy plans for the Olympic stadium were engulfed in legal disputes and internal wrangling, Russian authorities appear to be struggling with the legacy vision for the $64 million jewel of the Olympic Park in the Black Sea resort.
Details on the ownership of the stadium, anchor tenant(s) and venue managers/operators have yet to be announced.
One member of the IOC Coordination Commission for Sochi 2014 told Around the Rings they were not aware of the legacy plan details or permanent tenant.
Battling with financial problems, the city's professional football club – Zhemchuzhina Sochi – is a minor team which would attract small crowds that would barely fill a tier of the Olympic stadium, even if it was downsized to 25,000 seats.
ATR understands that the local football team may get some new finance soon to revive hopes of a move to the Olympic stadium. Discussions continue about formalisation of the venue as a home for Russia’s national football team. There has also been talk of using the facility as a training center and for host mass entertainment events and shows.
But seven months from the Olympics, Sochi 2014 leaders and government ministers have yet to confirm anything about the stadium legacy.
At the FIFA World Cup in 2018, the Sochi stadium is earmarked to stage several games. To reconfigure it for football use, the stadium has another year of design and construction after the Sochi Games. "This is due to the very significant interventions being made to accommodate the ceremonies," a source tells ATR.
The huge conversion project effectively makes it difficult to use the venue for major revenue-generating events. Aside from the F1 race there are no events pencilled in for 2014 and no word on the 2015 calendar.
"It will certainly be two years before the grass is green as it were in the stadium, so plenty of time to sort things out," the source involved in the stadium project told ATR.
According to sources in Russia, regional government, federal government and municipal authorities are among the group of high-level stakeholders in talks to take over the Olympic stadium.
Sochi 2014 organizers deny suggestions that the legacy of the Fisht stadium is up in the air and are set to make an announcement in the coming months.
Commenting on the 200 days to go mark, Sochi 2014 told ATR that preparations were on track.
"The Sochi 2014 team is working hard to ensure that we will be ready to welcome the world to Sochi for a thrilling and spectacular celebration of winter sports," the organizing committee said in a statement.
"The next big milestones for us are lighting the Olympic flame for the torch relay in September, followed by the start of the torch relay in October."
Reported by Mark Bisson
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