Khimki announced that they will use the Mytischi Arena in the Moscow Region for their upcoming EuroLeague games this season.
The club was informed by the EuroLeague two years ago that the Moscow Region Basketball Centre and also the Dynamo Sports Palace were not sufficient for the demands of the league.
The Mytischi Arena was opened in 2005 originally as an ice hockey complex.
The Mytischi Arena was opened in 2005 and has a capacity of 7.000 seats, its original purpose was to be an ice hockey arena but can handle the demands of a basketball court, as well.
The court layout for Khimki next season. Photo: Khimki Twitter
“Moving to Mytishchi is a forced measure. We would be happy to stay in Khimki and host EuroLeague home games in our beloved Basketball Center, but, unfortunately, it does not match the league regulations in terms of capacity,” said Khimki GM Pavel Astakhov.
“You need at least five thousand people, and even the Dynamo stadium in Krylatskoye does not meet these requirements, BC Khimki is still a team of the Moscow region, and in our region, there are only three arenas that meet the requirements. These are ice arenas in Podolsk, Balashikha and Mytishchi. As a result, we stopped at Mytishchi, since “Arena Mytishchi” is one of the most modern and comfortable stadiums in the Moscow region, which, moreover, is closest to Khimki.”
CSKA Moscow had a similar issue with the CSKA University Sports Hall, which didn’t meet EuroLeague standards but only recently moved to the Megasport Arena last season.