Donetsk, Apr 19 – DAN. Journalists were invited on a press tour to Donbass Arena stadium in Donetsk, one of the best in Europe and 4th largest in CIS, for the first time after the war in Donbass has started.
The event was organized on Tuesday by the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Tourism, whose head Mikhail Mishin acted as a guide and told journalists about the Arena, accompanied by the head of the company carrying out external management at the stadium Oleg Kovalchuk.
Reporters of over a dozen mass media sources were invited.
The tour started at the entrance to "the diamond", or "the plate", as football fans call the Arena. The logo of FC Shakhtar, once a host, is located there, next to the miniature of the premises and adjoining territory.
Further on reporters were shown conference halls, VIP seats and the offices of FC Shakhtar, where personal belongings of the employees are still present – dusty cups with the club logos, food containers, merchandise with logos, and a lot of other stuff. Seems like the time has stopped in those rooms and it is still 2014.
The tour continued outdoors, and journalists saw the windows shattered by Ukrainian shelling. Nevertheless, the building looks tremendous and is ready to host any sport event.
The dressing room of Shakhtar where photos of the team are exhibited and the football pitch closed the tour.
On March 1 the Donbass Arena was transferred to DPR jurisdiction and the famous blue illumination was turned on at the stadium. It was constructed in 2009 and was the home of FC Shakhtar Donetsk. Its has a seating capacity of 52,667. *ot