Madonna's Moscow concert gets new venue amid safety fears

MOSCOW: Madonna much-anticipated Russian premiere, for which 34,000 tickets have been sold, was moved to a new venue on Monday amid fears on inadequate police security, concert organizers said.        

The date was changed as well. The concert has been relocated from Vorobyovye Gory, a hilltop site near Moscow State University overlooking the city, to the Luzhniki Olympic complex, and will take place on September 12 rather than September 11, concert organizer Mikhail Shurygin said.              

"This is excellent news for fans, since Luzhniki has a larger capacity then the location at Vorobyovy Gory," Shurygin said. "Luzhniki is also more acceptable in terms of safety," Shurygin said.         

Moscow police had expressed concern about their ability to secure the concert's original planned location. A second location that was under discussion, the Tushino aerodrome in northwestern Moscow, was the site of a bombing that killed 15 during a festival in 2003.             

In addition to uncertainties over location, the upcoming concert by the US pop star has drawn a string of protests from the Russian Orthodox Church, which has called Madonna's use of Christian imagery blasphemous.