Anzhi Arena, FC Anzhi Makhachkala, Dagestan

Soccer and politics are heavily entwined in the speculative “Anzhi-City” (Анжи-сити) project in the outskirts of the Russian Republic of Dagestan’s capital, Makhachkala, on the Caspian Sea, with a new Anzhi Arena (Анжи-Арена) the centerpiece of the plan.

The proposed stadium would be built for the country’s biggest team, FC Anzhi Makhachkala, who are now bankrolled by Suleyman Kerimov, handed control of the club by Dagestan’s president Magomedsalam Magomedov in January 2011. In return, Kerimov is expected to invest massive amounts of his $8 billion fortune (ranking him close to the top 100 richest men in the world, and the richest owner in the Russian Premier League) to turn the club into a Champions League fixture and raise the profile of Makhachkala: currently, perhaps unfortunately best known for kidnappings and assassinations, with the mountainous region adjacent to Chechnya grappling with insurgency and corruption as well as the legacy of the Chechen wars (including the 1999 invasion of Dagestan).

In the short-term, this ambitious investment has meant signing the likes of Roberto Carlos and Yuri Zhirkov to boost the club who are back in the Russian Premier League for the first time since 2002. Indeed, as we write, Anzhi Makhachkala are reportedly about to acquire Samuel Eto’o and make him the highest-paid player in the world. For safety (and lifestyle) reasons, Anzhi Makhachkala’s players actually train in Moscow and fly to Dagestan for games. But in the long-term, it’s all about a $1 billion project to build the club a new 40,000+ capacity stadium surrounded by a massive infrastructure upgrade in an area outside the city center (presumably safer as a result). Here are the first visualizations of the new development:

Swiss company Botta Management Group have reportedly been hired to lead the project (BMG are the leading advisors for the ambitious VTB Dynamo Moscow Stadium project in Russia as well, along with many other projects, including the Mineirão in Belo Horizonte, Brazil). Anzhi Makhachkala currently play at Dynamo Stadium, an outdated 20,000 capacity stadium that originally belonged to the now-amateur level FC Dynamo Makhachkala. The old stadium, according to the plans, will itself be renovated and used for Anzhi Makhachkala’s reserve team.

The future, as dreamed of by Magomedov and Kerimov is all about Anzhi Arena hosting Europe’s elite teams, with the likes of Samuel Eto’o suiting up for Anzhi Makhachkala.