But a long-awaited concert by Madonna had become mired in security concerns, and it was anyone’s guess where and when the show would take place, if at all.

After more than a week of negotiations – spiced up by protests against the 48-year-old pop star performing anywhere in the city – an agreement was struck Monday for the event to be held September 12 at the Luzhniki stadium.

Originally, promoters said it would be September 11 in Vorobyovye Gory, the hills that rise on the south bank of the Moscow River, in a vast space framed by the tower of Moscow State University.

It’s not clear whether promoters had firm permission for that site, but city officials began raising an array of objections, primarily that the huge space would be impossible to police properly.

Reports also said authorities objected to organizers’ demands that students in nearby dorms be forced to keep their windows shut in order not to see the concert for free.