Stanislav Pozdnyakov:
– Yesterday’s meeting of the Presidential Council for the Development of Physical Culture and Sport was mainly devoted to mass sport. Nevertheless, the topic of elite sports was not overlooked.
Now many are wondering how our sport will survive. I am sure that there is no need to talk about survival because Russia is a great sports power, and the considerable potential that we have today, especially in elite sports, needs to be developed and adapted to current conditions.
First of all, we need a well-formed sports calendar which would be the basis for achieving decent results. In addition, it is important to invite our friends and neighbours to Russian competitions. At the same time, it is necessary to create high-quality conditions for their participation. To date, the situation is developing in such a way that there is a need for legislative amendments that will be an adequate response to the reshaped global environment. Therefore, at the meeting of the Council, I drew attention to the fact that the current versions of sports legal acts need to be adapted to the current challenges and tasks that we are faced with. And this not only implies the invitation of friendly NOCs to tournaments in Russia, but also the organization of competitions in neighbouring countries in the interests of the development of Russian sport.
The topic aroused great interest. Colleagues from the Russian Paralympic Committee drew attention to this, and on the sidelines, we actively pursued substantial discussions regarding this initiative with the Minister of Sport Oleg Matytsin.
And, of course, we need a departmental program for the effective development of Olympic sport. At the same time, most federations currently have predominantly state sources of funding, but the funds and capabilities of public associations can also be integrated into this program. A similar approach has already been implemented in the preparation program for the recent Olympic Winter Games. The experience of Beijing 2022 has shown that we are on the right track, and this success needs to be expanded.
