The decision to construct a new stadium in Saransk, a city 200 miles south-east of Moscow with a population of 330,000, had been made before Russia's bid to host the FIFA World Cup was approved. The Arena was planned to be built between 2010 and 2012 and to be completed for two events: Spartakiad and celebration of the Millennium of the Unity Between the Mordovian People and the Peoples of the Russian State. But as FIFA's regulations stipulate a minimum capacity of 45,000 people the original plans were changed and the opening postponed when Saransk was listed as World Cup host city. Sport-Engineering is the stadium’s developer. On 2 November 2017, the field in the stadium received its first mowing. The stadium hosted its first match on 21 April 2018, a football match between Mordovia and FC Zenit-Izhevsk.
