Donbass Arena, Shakhtar’s millionaire house abandoned by the war

The Shakhtar Donetskclub of the first division of Ukraine and winner of the Europe League, can boast of owning a stadium of more than 400 million dollars, considered an elite property by UEFA. However, since its opening in 2009, the team has only been able to use its luxurious facilities for six years, as the social, political and violent conflict that began in that region of Ukraine in 2014 (and which gave way to the current invasion of Russia), in addition to being bombed, forced him to move and play his home games in three different cities.

The Donbass-Arenawhich receives its name in homage to the region from which Donetsk It is the capital, it began to be built in 2006 and it was inaugurated on August 29, 2009, but it was not with a soccer game, but with a concert starring Beyoncéwho gathered more than 60 thousand people in the building.

Terror and goodbye to the property

The pleasure of the team owned by the Ukrainian businessman did not last long Rinat Akhmetovbecause on August 23, 2014, almost six years after its opening, the Donbass-Arena was the scene of a terrorist attack when it was bombed, caused by the tension that began to arise due to the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

And it is precisely Donetsk It is the capital of the area known as donbass which has a border with Russia and which was recognized in days past by Vladimir Putin as a separate region. In fact, in this territory of Ukraine 84 percent of the population speak Russian and only 11 percent Ukrainian.

That August 23, 2014, two bombs exploded in the house of the shaketar. The club immediately moved its offices and training centers to the capital. Kyiv. Since then he has had to play and play his games as a “foreigner” in the city of Lviv and since 2017 in Kharkov in the metalist stadiumHouse of FC Metalist 1925.

The Donbass-Arena had its best moment during the European Championship of 2012 that was played in Poland and Ukraine. It hosted six tournament games: four in the Group Phase, one in Quarter finals and the Semifinal between Portugal and Spain, in which the Spaniards came out with the victory to later keep the title.

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