This situation once again confirms the inferiority of our so-called professional sport, when you do not live on what you earn, but on what you tear from the bottomless and poorly controlled bins of your homeland.
Really, what kind of nonsense: “Siberia” is now playing at the stadium of the 1964 model? In the third largest city in the country in terms of population! Well, isn’t it a shame? Even in much smaller Nizhnekamsk and Cherepovets, Khabarovsk and Magnitogorsk, such sheds can only be seen in a nightmare. Well yes, the almost 60-year-old Siberia Palace was recently renovated. Everyone is used to it. The place, one could say, is a place of worship.
So what? Is it almost double the capacity – 10587 spectators vs. 6055, high vaults with a powerful video cube, excellent visibility from all seats, lots of air and blinding light, spacious lobbies with a bunch of fast food outlets, accessibility of convenient transportation – even if the Sportivnaya metro station is not finished on time! – Don’t they outweigh all the ephemeral advantages of the antediluvian ice rink?
Is it our sport and will it hang forever by the neck of the State? Does everyone really care that in the new palace, thanks to almost five thousand additional tickets, from the sale of food and paraphernalia, the profits from a Siberian match can be doubled, if not tripled? In general, a person in his mind can come up with a revolutionary idea to live for another half a year in a Khrushchev block, instead of moving to elegant business-class apartments, where they are waiting for him with open arms.
Yes, the emergency move is associated with certain difficulties. But visiting during the championship to fly and each time settling in a new locker room is not easy either. Nothing! Nobody complains. Therefore, it is necessary for business. In addition, some teams, especially those from the capital, in the old days had to change stadiums during the season when the main one was busy with something other than hockey. Nothing! Did. Therefore, it is necessary for business.
And now, for the common cause, for the interests of those same five thousand fans who can also receive the new palace, you need to push yourself a little, collect your belongings and move into a new spacious and bright house. And, by the way, it was built according to IIHF standards, because it was supposed to host the 2023 World Youth Championship. And, unlike the already commissioned arena in Omsk, it has a training skating rink.
Regarding possible shortcomings, the Minister of Sports of the Novosibirsk Region Sergey Akhapov said that on February 21, the KHL commission checked the readiness of the stadium for league matches.
– Now our main task is to bring all modern arena sports technologies into compliance with the KHL regulations as soon as possible. After that, the KHL will appoint a test match. Then, based on the interests of Sibir and the fans, we will make the decision to move the team.
After the identified deficiencies are eliminated, the KHL commission will arrive in Novosibirsk, having already scheduled a test match. During it, nuances such as pouring ice, changing side windows, evacuating an injured player, lights, sound and much more will be tested. We have no doubt that we will comply with the KHL regulations in the near future, – ChS-Info quotes Akhapov.
This is exactly what we needed to try! Everything will be removed, everything will be prepared just in time. It is not clear, what do the interests of the team itself have to do with it? If all our substitutes for professional sports are financed by the state, we must all defend their interests first and foremost. But if the expensive palace is already completely ready and can host competitions, why should it be idle? It is enough that after the 2018 Football World Cup, magnificent ultra-modern stadiums are missing and dilapidated throughout the country, for which they left the budget – and go! – billions of people’s rubles.
As for the fans. I repeat once again: if the new arena is capable of taking twice as much as the hopelessly outdated Siberia, then what questions may arise!
And also. I remember very well how exactly the same thing happened eight years ago at Dynamo Moscow. The Blue and Whites played the entire regular season at the Luzhniki Small Arena. However, before the playoffs, a real opportunity arose to play the decisive games of the season at Parque de Leyendas. The following season, Moscow hosted the World Cup there.
So, with the same arguments and excuses – a familiar place, we don’t want to move during the season, everything is familiar to us in the old locker room and on the site – Dynamo flatly refused to change the record. And? He crashed at the Gagarin Cup-2015 in the second round, losing in the SKA series – 1-4. Moreover, both matches were ruined in Luzhniki – 0: 2 and 1: 6! But “Soviet sport” even then warned: leave the Park of Legends, shoot yourself on the horse, because you will lose the strong support of an additional five thousand spectators.
On the other hand, there is such a good omen in terms of new palaces. As soon as they opened in Yaroslavl, Kazan, Magnitogorsk, Ufa, the local club immediately became the champion of the country.
