Spartak Arena Opens in Saint Petersburg

(PRESS RELEASE) -- Saint Petersburg, 12 September 2013 – Yesterday, the Chairman of the Federation Council Valentina Matviyenko, The Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko, St. Petersburg Governor Georgy Poltavchenko, accompanied by politicians and sports officials, as well as well-known athletes participated in the opening ceremony of the new Spartak sports complex on Krestovskiy Island in St. Petersburg. Spartak is one of the venues of 2013 World Combat Games.

"A glorious event, a landmark in the sports life of St. Petersburg took place today. This sports complex provides a wonderful arena for training and team competitions in many sports. I am confident that the opening of the complex will give new strength to the Spartak basketball team" - noted Valentina Matvienko. "Russia is a country full of healthy people, we will have a healthy nation, and therefore a healthy future".

The Governor of St. Petersburg Georgy Poltavchenko underlined that a very important event will take place at the Arena in the near future - The World Combat Games. "It's like the Olympics for Combat Sports, I'm sure that the competition will be held at the highest level and subsequently this arena will provide a stage for the highest standard of competitions in various sports in the future. The more sports facilities we have, the higher the bar of St. Petersburg will be raised"- said the Governor.

The construction of the basketball arena for 7,000 spectators on Krestovskiy Island began in 2010. Because part of the competitions of 2013 World Combat Games will take place on this site, the construction process was accelerated and successfully completed.

After the ceremonial speeches and excursions around the complex, dignitaries including the Head of 2013 World Combat Games Directorate Pavel Zhuravlev and SportAccord Director General Vlad Marinescu, planted trees at the Alley of Glory.

About World Combat Games World Combat Games take place from 18-26 October 2013 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. SportAccord World Combat Games is an international sporting event which promotes values of self-control, determination and technical mastery. The Martial Arts and Combat Sports integrate elements of culture, wisdom, friendship to create an elite sports competition - the Art of Combat. The Games will feature the world’s top athletes of 15 Martial Arts and Combat Sports; Aikido, Boxing, Fencing, Judo, Jujitsu, Karate, Kendo, Kickboxing, Muaythai, Sambo, Savate, Sumo, Taekwondo, Wrestling, Wushu. Additionally, the Combat Games will feature a Cultural Programme reflecting the ancient traditions of martial arts as well as the social and cultural values of the 15 sports and the event as a whole.

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