Penza, 26 July 2015. PenzaNews. The Penza sports complex “Zenit” on Titova proyezd, 3A, was included in the online roster of training facilities that will be used for the 32 finalists of the 2018 World Cup.

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The current version of the roster includes a total of 60 facilities approved by the host country and FIFA.

It was first announced during the seminar for the qualification competition teams held in St. Petersburg on July 25, the day of the qualifying draw.

“The base list for the commands that we suggested will significantly expand the geography of the world championship. Thanks to this concept, people living in almost the whole European part of the country will be involved,” the Russian Sports Minister and the chairman of the “Russia-2018” organization committee Vitaly Mutko commented on the news.

In his turn, Alexei Sorokin, general director of “Russia-2018” organization committee, pointed out that Russia has created the first e-catalogue of such bases.

“An e-roster has many unquestionable features. It makes searching for the best training base easier and more convenient compared to the usual printed lists. A major benefit is its filter system that can be configured to select the locations using the criteria important for the team in question,” he noted.

The organization committee leaves a possibility to expand the roster later on if any new suitable locations become approved by FIFA.

According to the requirements of the football federation, each base must have a hotel and training grounds close to each other and be no more than an hour away from an airport that can accept certain types of airplanes.

It takes 19 minutes to go from “Zenit” to the Penza airport, 11 minutes to the Heliopark Residence hotel, and 9 minutes from the hotel to the stadium, reads the roster.

The description of the sports complex “Zenit” says the stadium is used for training of the eponymous team in the Russian Championship and for the club’s children and youth sports school. The location is situated far from the city highways and residential areas, and houses a medical room, three mini-football arenas with artificial grass, eight tennis courts, two basketball arenas, a match arena and a training arena. The sports complex will upgrade its lightning system, dressing rooms and the conference hall by the 2018 World Cup.

Moreover, the catalogue adds, Penza will be celebrating the 100th anniversary of the local football tradition in 2018.