Planning image of the national football stadium in Belarus’s capital Minsk designed by IPPR [Photo/chalab.com.cn]

The launching ceremony of two Belarusian construction projects, the national football stadium and the international standard natatorium, was held on June 30 in Minsk, capital of Belarus. The two projects are under progress with assistance from the Chinese government, and China IPPR International Engineering Co (IPPR), a subsidiary of Sinomach, undertook the design and management of the football stadium project.

The projects are China’s largest construction assistance projects in Belarus in recent years, and have received great attention from the leaders of both countries. President Xi Jinping of China and President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus jointly unveiled the project models at the Great Hall of the People in China on April 25, 2019.

Located in the center of Minsk, the national football stadium is planned to cover 12.43 hectares including 48,000 square meters devoted to the stadium itself, which can hold 33,000 spectators.

The football stadium was the first complete design project undertaken by a Chinese company as part of a Union of European Football Association (UEFA) network of standard stadiums. It has created a precedent for domestic sports architecture design industry.

The IPPR’s design team is building the project in full accordance with the standards of UEFA and the Federation International Football Association (FIFA), and combines the UEFA’s latest concepts in the design of event operations and barrier-free accessible playgrounds.

For the sake of environmental protection, IPPR has made full use of the existing large-area forests at the site, providing local people with a beautiful urban sports park. The project, once completed, will be a world-class professional football stadium, capable of hosting large-scale sport events such as European and world football championships and matches in the UEFA Champions League.