"We want to reconstruct the football stadium and build an ice arena"

In 2025, Chelyabinsk has achieved great success in two of the most popular game sports. The Traktor Hockey Club has reached the Gagarin Cup final. And the Chelyabinsk football club reached the first place in the second league at the end of the season and immediately gained a foothold there at the top of the table. At the same time, if they get into the joints, the club may have problems with admission to these matches, since its infrastructure does not yet meet the criteria of the RPL. In an interview with Izvestia, the governor of the Chelyabinsk Region, Alexei Texler, spoke about plans to reconstruct the football stadium to meet the requirements of the Premier League, answered the question whether there was a goal for Chelyabinsk to join the elite of Russian football this season, and also announced the construction of a new ice palace for Traktor to play in the KHL.

— What are your impressions of the Russia — Sports Power forum held in Samara?

— First of all, I would like to mention the meeting of the Presidential Council for the Development of Physical Culture and Sports. This time, the development of youth sports was discussed. It is important today to focus on making sports accessible to children. To do this, it is necessary to create the appropriate infrastructure — it is no coincidence that Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin emphasized this during the council meeting. Speaking for our region, we are trying to create infrastructure and support our coaches. The support of coaching staff was also discussed at the council meeting. It is necessary to support those who work in mass, youth and professional sports. It is also necessary to create new programs, including educational ones at our specialized universities, in order to improve the training of trainers who will work with children. It is also necessary to create programs that stimulate the work of coaches in youth sports.

— FC Chelyabinsk is not far from the zone of transitional matches, and back in September it was in second place, in the zone of direct access to the RPL. Is there a task to try to break into the Premier League this season?

— The soldier who does not dream of becoming a general is bad. In fact, there was no such super task as reaching the RPL for the team this season. But any professional athlete should strive for victories. But now only the first half of the championship has ended — the second round of the first league tournament will begin next weekend. So let's see how things go from here. I will not make loud statements about this. The main thing is the development of the team. For her to progress, to involve her students in the composition — today she has it.

— One of the key licensing requirements for participation in the RPL competition is the presence of a home stadium in your region with a capacity of at least 10 thousand spectators. Chelyabinsk's home stadium currently has insufficient capacity. Are there any chances to expand the stands if the prospect of joining the RPL is obvious?

— We have quite ambitious plans for infrastructure. Next year, we will complete the construction of a new modern arena in Chelyabinsk, designed for football and athletics. We presented his project at the Russia — Sports Power Forum in Samara — you could see the layout of the indoor arena at the stand of the Chelyabinsk region. As soon as it is put into operation, we will begin a major reconstruction of the Central Stadium, where FC Chelyabinsk plays its home matches. It will be a cozy stadium for fans with podium facilities, with all the necessary services. Everything will be done to ensure that families come to football with their children and cheer for our team.

— What will be the capacity of the stadium after the reconstruction?

— Around 10-11 thousand people. In other words, the stadium will meet the minimum requirements of the RPL competition admission regulations.

— Is there a chance to do this before next summer, so that if Chelyabinsk gets into the top 4, the story of last season with Chernomorets will not repeat itself, when the Novorossiysk club took fourth place, which gave the right to play in transitional matches, but was not allowed to participate in them due to the lack of a stadium of the required capacity?

— It all takes time. Especially now, making any predictions is a thankless task. The team must play and please the fans. That's the main thing today.

— In the summer, Traktor CEO Ivan Savin was also appointed to a similar post at FC Chelyabinsk. Why did you decide to assign a hockey person to work in football as well?

— You know, we have a professional hockey club. He is quite strong in terms of organization and management. We have a fairly strong management team at Traktor. And for the development of football today, we need a professional management approach. A team working with Traktor hockey can provide this in a football club.

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— Given the popularity of hockey in Chelyabinsk, many believe that the capacity of the Valery Belousov Tractor Arena of 7.5 thousand spectators is insufficient for KHL games. Is there an opportunity to fix this in the coming years?

— We have plans for a new arena.

— To build it from scratch?

- yes. Reconstruction of the current Valery Belousov Tractor Arena is impractical. As you know, we are represented in all hockey leagues — the KHL, the Major Hockey League (VHL), the Youth Hockey League (MHL), and the Women's Hockey League (WHL). So there will be a need for the current stadium anyway. But regarding Traktor's matches in the KHL, we are talking about a new modern arena. We're thinking about it.

— Is there an understanding of what the capacity will be?

— I can't comment on that yet.