Dynamo has a strange start. Why SKA plays thousands of kilometers from Khabarovsk
Nikita Paglazov April 2, 2024, 14:00 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
Problems with the home stadium continue to plague the club. We have to welcome our opponents in St. Petersburg.
In the spring of 2024, interesting things will happen with SKA-Khabarovsk. The team has never played in its stadium, although according to the schedule it should have already played three games. What are the problems in Khabarovsk?
Journalist Sergei Ilyev previously reported that the Lenin Stadium would be downgraded and championship matches would be banned from being held there if the club did not meet the requirements of the First League. The problem is that the artificial grass heating system has broken down for the second time in two years. In 2023, this was due to abnormal frosts. In January last year, the average temperature was -22.4 degrees Celsius. Now it is minus 20.3.
The First League has drawn up a “road map” for the residents of Khabarovsk. And the Ministry of Sports of the Khabarovsk Territory and the contractors signed an agreement to carry out the work. But the situation has not changed. Even the SKA-Khabarovsk’s record budget for the season did not help – 1.2 billion rubles, this was reported by Gennady Maltsev, deputy of the Legislative Duma of the Khabarovsk Territory. And the First League specially prepared the schedule for the Club to play the first two games after the restart of the season away from home.
Work at the Khabarovsk stadium.
Photo: FC SKA-Khabarovsk
In the last championship, SKA-Khabarovsk, after the resumption of the First League, rented… the Kirovets stadium in Saint Petersburg! This despite the fact that there are 6199 km between the cities. In 2024, Roman Sharonov’s team played the quarterfinals of the Russian Route of Regions Cup with Sochi on the rival field, although it was nominally considered the host. SKA won an unexpected penalty shootout victory and advanced.
Then SKA-Khabarovsk hosted Torpedo Moscow in Fisht, and they also turned out to be stronger (2-0). And the home match against Sokol on March 31 took place in St. Petersburg at the same Kirovets, which helped the team last year. Interestingly, the match was scheduled to take place in Vladivostok, but the home stadium was also downgraded. And the Khabarovsk team also beat Sokol 3:1. It turns out that the problems only made SKA stronger?
Cup match “SKA-Khabarovsk” against “Sochi”
Photo: vk.com/pfcsochi
Interestingly, in two away games in the first league the team did not win: 1:1 with Volgar and 0:3 with Chernomorets. Now SKA-Khabarovsk is in tenth place in the table, 10 points away from the play-off zone to enter the RPL.
The Vladimir Lenin stadium in Khabarovsk not only suffered burst pipes, but also flooding. In 2013 and 2017, images of the stadium flooded due to incessant rains became a source of discussion. At the same time, in the 2017/2018 season, SKA-Khabarovsk played in the RPL. However, the match against Anzhi finally took place in Khabarovsk – the field was in order.
In 2017, the Khabarovsk stadium flooded
Photo: twitter.com/fc_anji
In St. Petersburg, in Kirovets, the most important match for SKA-Khabarovsk will also take place in the second stage of the quarterfinals of the Road of the Regions Cup against Dynamo. Due to problems with the Khabarovsk stadium, this stadium became the team’s second home. I wonder if it will help SKA overcome a formidable opponent. In favor of the Khabarovsk team is the fact that everything is decided in a single match. But perhaps playing away from home has already tired SKA. The management needs to radically solve the problem of its stadium.
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