New baseball stadium inaugurated in Moscow, Russia as season opens

New baseball stadium inaugurated in Moscow, Russia as season opens
12/08/2020
A new stadium in Moscow, Russia, is a sign that baseball and softball are growing more and more popular, as the sport continues its global expansion.

Moscow, Russia, has the current honour of having the newest baseball stadium in the world.

And with the new venue, the top baseball league in Russia opened its 2020 season on Saturday, 8 August.

The Russian Baseball Federation (RBF) issued COVID-19 prevention guidelines modelled on WBSC recommendations. Umpires will wear gloves and face masks during the games and only half of the seats can be filled with fans, in order to allow social distancing. All of the players have so far tested negative for COVID-19.

"It’s very important that Russian Baseball Championship remains on track, without any disruption," said RBF President Dmitry Kiselev. “We are doing our best to ensure the health of everyone involved, not only players, coaches, umpires and scorers, but also organizers, staff, reporters and spectators."

RBF announced that the eight-team championship will conclude its regular season in two weeks. The top four finishers will advance to the championship round, set to begin on Saturday, 22 August. All the games will be played at the the new RusStar Arena in Moscow.

The RusStar Arena is the home of the Russian National Team and a high standard baseball venue. It was selected as the venue of the Baseball European Championship group B and the U-23 European Baseball Championship Qualifier. Both tournament were postponed to 2021 by the Confederation of European Baseball (CEB) because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fans who won't be able to access the games will have the chance to watch then on line through the RusStar Arena YouTube Channel.