EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko has inaugurated the National Football Stadium in Minsk, BelTA has learned.
It is not the first large-scale sport facility that our friends from China have built in Minsk. Belarus’ largest swimming pool was opened literally half a year ago. The largest stadium able to seat over 33,000 spectators has been opened today.
The arena meets all the criteria for getting the UEFA’s Category 4. In other words, it can host games of European and world championships, the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Europa League as well as the UEFA Super Cup. But the place will host not only high-level international games but also domestic championships.
The stadium boasts state-of-the-art equipment. Field heating, an irrigation system, LED lights, two large displays are just some of the features of the new football arena in the nation’s capital. A symbolic sculpture depicting Belarusian and Chinese football players is located outside an entrance to the stadium.
The opening ceremony also turned out to be symbolic. There was room for both Belarusian and Chinese flavors. You have to admit, it’s not often you can see a Chinese artist singing the famous Kupalinka song in pure Belarusian. And then a Belarusian artist, who sings in equally pure Chinese. And against the backdrop of this unusual performance a Chinese dragon was carried past.
And although the opening of the stadium implies officialdom, the president decided to speak from the heart. The idea that it would be nice to build a stadium in Partizansky Avenue came to Aleksandr Lukashenko quite a long time ago. China President Xi Jinping helped implement it. Here’s how it happened…
“A decision in favor of building a national stadium here was made. Once in Beijing during negotiations with my old but very reliable friend, China President Xi Jinping I started this conversation. The Chinese are very calm and balanced people. After I shared my thoughts he said in the Chinese way that they would think about it,” the Belarusian leader said.
Certainly, the president also talked about football. It is no secret that Aleksandr Lukashenko went in for this sport when he was young. Just like any football fan he would like the Belarusian national team to perform well.
“I hope the performance of our clubs and particularly of our national teams will match the conditions that have been created for them,” the president said. After all, Belarusians know how to play: the fact that the Belarusian beach football team has reached a world championship finals demonstrated it well.
Vice President of the Chinese Olympic Committee Zhang Jiasheng handed over a symbolic key to the stadium to Aleksandr Lukashenko. In turn, the head of state presented the key to the Belarusian youth football team. Young players will play the first match in the new stadium: a Belarusian U21 team will play against a Chinese U22 team.