As part of an agreement between Olympic Solidarity of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), for the very first time in Russia, training courses are being implemented under the auspices of the IOC.
The ROC initiated the training courses in Russian and adapted the content of the programme itself and the corresponding educational materials specifically for the Russian-speaking audience while Olympic Solidarity, on its part, financed the courses.
The Russian International Olympic University (RIOU) was chosen by the ROC as the platform for implementing this cycle of training courses for sports administrators.
From September 8-10, 2020, under guidance from IOC’s Olympic Solidarity and the ROC, the first group of IOC’s Olympic Solidarity NOC management programme – National Training Courses for Sports Administrators – successfully underwent training in the Moscow branch of the RIOU. By the end of 2020, four courses are planned to be implemented by the ROC.
The participants of the three-day programme were representatives of national sports federations and Olympic councils. Each course is designed for training 30 students. When forming groups, the ROC pays special attention to the observance of gender equality.
The Vice-Rector for Research at RIOU, Professor, Doctor in Law Nikolay Peshin was chosen as the National Course Director by the ROC.
“The Olympic Solidarity programme offers a three-tiered strategy for developing the skills of sports administrators, namely, professional development, professional retraining and business education,” said Nikolay Peshin in his interview to the ROC information service. “This particular course is the first level where students receive fundamental knowledge and basic skills in line with the National Training Courses for Sports Administrators. It consists of the following main areas – immersing students into the system of Olympic values and a detailed conversation about the foundations of the Olympic movement, as well as several specific issues, which include the basics of sports law and anti-doping. A large part is devoted to management issues such as the activities of an organization, marketing and business planning.”
The training courses are based on the textbook of the IOC “Sport administration manual”, which was translated into Russian at the initiative of the ROC. It reflects the key points that sports administrators should have according to Olympic Solidarity. On the basis of this information, RIOU specialists, in accordance with the University’s standards, developed an educational cycle.
Today all participants who successfully mastered the programme and passed final certification have received certificates from the IOC and the RIOU.
The ROC expresses its gratitude to the IOC for the opportunity to implement such training programmes in Russia and for the financial support received from Olympic Solidarity. On its part, the ROC will continue to work in this direction and in the near future there are plans to launch the second level of the Olympic Solidarity training programme – the Advanced Sports Management Courses.
