Stadium built for Russia's World Cup left in dark over unpaid bills

FILE PHOTO: A general view shows the Samara Arena in Samara, Russia May 6, 2018. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov/File Photo

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Electricity was cut on Tuesday at a Russian stadium built for this year's football World Cup over unpaid bills, a power supplier in the city of Samara told Reuters, despite President Vladimir Putin saying he did not want such venues to fall into disuse.

Samaraenergo said the power supply was cut early on Tuesday because PSO Kazan, the company that built the 42,000-seat stadium, had not paid its electricity bills this year and had racked up 9,216,000 rubles (£105,593) in debt.