Zenit given go-ahead to hold home games at new ‘Stadium St. Petersburg’

Zenit St. Petersburg have been given the green light to host their home matches at the new ‘Stadium St. Petersburg’.

The move means the Russian Premier League club will play their last game at their current ground – the 21,500 capacity Petrovsky Stadium – versus Anzhi Makhachkala on Saturday, April 8.  

“Zenit, the RFU and UEFA are all in agreement that Zenit can now play their home games at the new "Stadium St. Petersburg" located on the Krestovsky Island,” the club said in a statement.

“The blue-white-sky blues will have three fixtures planned in the Stadium St. Petersburg, the first will be the RFPL game against Ural in mid-April and in May, Terek and Krasnodar will be our guests in the new stadium with the exact dates of matches still to be determined.”  

Stadium St. Petersburg - which has a capacity of 67.800 - will host the opening match at this summer’s 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup, which will be held from June 17 until July 2.

Other stadiums hosting games at the tournament are Otkrytie Arena in Moscow, Kazan Arena and Fisht Olympic Stadium in Sochi.

It is also one of 12 stadiums chosen to host matches at the Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup next summer.

On Wednesday, Zenit visited the scene of the recent terrorist attack which claimed the lives of 14 people and injured dozens more in the city’s metro.

READ MORE: 'You can’t break us’: Zenit visit site of St. Petersburg Metro blast in show of solidarity

The blast ripped through a St. Petersburg Metro carriage traveling between Sennaya Ploshchad and Tekhnologichesky Institut stations. The explosion was later confirmed to be a terrorist attack.

The team traveled from the club’s base in the north of the city along the metro line where the explosion occurred and laid flowers at the scene of the tragedy.