MOSCOW: In the 2018 World Cup in Russia, FIFA’s focus on infrastructure for the first time in history has been on a football stadium’s environmental sustainability. As a result, the governing body has made acquiring green building certification compulsory for all official stadiums of the competition as well as future ones under construction or renovation.
“Stadiums are vital in our efforts to stage a successful and more sustainable FIFA World Cup,” said FIFA Head of Sustainability & Diversity Federico Addiechi.
“I am very glad to see that all of the 2018 FIFA World Cup stadiums have successfully achieved their sustainable certification following Russian as well as international green building standards.”
To comply with FIFA stadium requirements in preparation of the World Cup, a new standard was created in 2016 called RUSO by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment with the support of the tournament’s Local Organising Committee (LOC). This was developed for football stadium certification in accordance with the principle of ‘green’ construction.
9 of the 12 stadiums in Russia were certified as per it, while the other three complied with the international standard ‘BREEAM’.
“Achieving green certification for all our stadiums will have a big impact on their effective use in the long run, especially in regards to reducing expenditure on water and energy,” said the LOC’s Head of Sustainability Milana Verkhunova.
“This will be a game changer for sports infrastructure in Russia and a true legacy of the FIFA World Cup here.”
