The President of the Russian Olympic Committee delivered a report at a meeting of the Council for the Development of Physical Culture and Sport. The event was held today via videoconference under the chairmanship of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Stanislav Pozdnyakov:
Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, dear members of the Council, colleagues!
I would like to start by saying thank you, Vladimir Vladimirovich, for your support and stable assistance of our main sponsor and partner PAO Gazprom. As a result, the Russian Olympic Committee, despite the difficulties faced by the sports world due to the pandemic, has continued with all the preparations planned for the upcoming Olympic Games in Tokyo and Beijing.
It should be noted that the departmental project Beijing 2022, developed on your instructions, is being actively implemented jointly with the Ministry of Sport. This approach to planning has proven to be effective – even in the current difficult conditions, preparations for the next Winter Olympic Games are well underway.
The ROC has also redistributed all available resources and, taking into account the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics, will be able to finance preparations for a year longer, without reducing the total amount or areas of targeted support to the Federations.
After all, each Federation should be responsible for large-scale practical work on the development and popularization of sport, which requires significant human, financial, scientific and methodological resources.
With the onset of the pandemic, in order to understand the current state of the industry, the ROC initiated a study of the prospects for funding the Federations.
The main conclusion: against the backdrop of problems caused by the pandemic, sponsorship has decreased which, in turn, has aggravated the difficulties with financing the statutory activities of most Federations.
Furthermore, the issue of lack of funds for statutory activities is only part of the set of problems that we are working to resolve together.
It is well-known that the development of any sport is a multilevel process. The most notable components are the achievements of high-class athletes and national teams at the largest competitions.
However, the tasks facing the Federations – including at the level of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation – are not limited to the preparation and participation of athletes in competitions. This is just one area of developing any sport.
Thus, assessing the current state of the industry, the ROC Executive Board considered it possible to invite the Federations to think about possible approaches to improving the efficiency of our common work.
I think this proposal is timely, given that one of the targets in implementing the Strategy is winning first place in the unofficial medal standings at the Olympic Games in 2028 and 2030.
I will single out areas strictly outside the sports sphere where Federations have a tangible potential for improvement – these are anti-doping and international activities.
In many Federations, the qualifications of specialists in the aforementioned areas need to be improved. In some Federations there are part-time experts, in others there are volunteers, and in some there are no such specialists at all.
When it comes to anti-doping work, for instance, it has led to the most undesirable consequences. A clear example of this was the blatant case of falsifying medical documents of a Russian track-and-field athlete.
High-quality anti-doping activities are relevant today more than ever. However, at the same time, we are faced with a total lack of specialists with the necessary qualifications, we are under-staffed. We are talking, first of all, about practice-oriented, subject-oriented professionals – there are very few throughout the country.
On January 1, 2021, a new version of the WADA Code shall come into force, introducing a number of requirements for National Sports Organizations. One of them is the mandatory presence of a full-time anti-doping coordinator.
We are well aware that it is necessary to think not so much about the salary component, but first of all about the training of personnel, mechanisms for controlling the quality of their work, as well as regular professional development.
International activity
Based on the traditions of domestic sports diplomacy and the experience of veteran specialists in international sports structures, the Russian Olympic Committee at all levels consistently consolidates working relations with all participants in the International Olympic Movement.
Interaction and cooperation with partners from the IOC, International Federations and National Olympic Committees has helped to resolve really difficult issues in the interests of Federations and athletes more than once.
But for the full participation of the Federations in forming the international sports agenda, the time has come to expand this direction, including in the spheres of activities of the Federations themselves.
Russia ranks in the top five in terms of the number of representatives in institutions of international sports structures.
Basically, these are technical committees and referee commissions. Today, this is not enough to participate in sports politics and protect our interests.
There are only a few of our esteemed compatriots in leading positions in international federations.
Meanwhile, sport has been and remains one of the most effective tools for solving very delicate situations in regard to international relations.
In Eastern Europe and the post-Soviet space, the ROC has stable, friendly relations with colleagues in the Olympic movement.
Nevertheless, for various reasons, the political leadership of individual countries has hindered the development of constructive contacts at the interstate level, but the ROC is ready to bolster interaction with its foreign partners.
The ROC is ready to coordinate activities in order to form a reserve for promoting an effective team of specialists in the international sports environment, capable of drafting an agenda at various levels of management in terms of international organizations.
Now the presence of such coordinators for international activities in the Federations is becoming an urgent necessity, not an option.
Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, the support of the Federations in these areas will allow in the foreseeable future to increase the effectiveness of all Russian sport and will contribute to strengthening our authority on the international sports arena.
The ROC is ready to take an active part not only in co-financing such support and assistance, but also in developing the necessary recommendations, rules and standards for public organizations in the field of sport.
Dear Vladimir Vladimirovich, I ask you to support our initiatives,
This is the end of my report. Thank you for your attention!
