The Luzhniki, which hosted the 1980 Olympics, is due to stage the final of the FIFA World Cup in 2018 and Russia's Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko had raised the prospect of it being knocked down next year and a new stadium being built on the same site.

But Sobyanin has ruled out this possibility and instead promised that extensive renovations will begin after the Stadium has hosted the International Associaton of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Championships next August.

"Luzhniki is a sacred place," he said on Russian televison.

"The Stadium will remain in its current location.

"Of course, it requires serious reconstruction, but we won't be changing site."


Moscow officials are now expected to begin investigating a scheme that would see the facade of the Stadium remaining while it is completely modernised inside.

The 80,000-capacity arena, built in 1956 and refurbished for the 1980 Summer Olympics, where Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett staged their classic duels, is due to host the opening match and one of the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup, as well as the final.

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