Ahead of the opening ceremony of the Games of the Future international tournament in Kazan, Dmitry Chernyshenko, Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, and Oleg Matytsin, Minister of Sport of Russia, held a meeting with the heads of delegations of the countries participating in the competition. The meeting was held at the Volga Region State University of Physical Culture, Sports and Tourism.
The event was attended by heads of delegations from 23 countries, including the Minister of Sport and Tourism of the Republic of Belarus Sergey Kovalchuk, Minister of Youth Policy and Sport of the Republic of Uzbekistan Adham Ikramov, President of the National Institute of Sport, Physical Education and Active Recreation of the Republic of Cuba Oswaldo Montillier, Minister of Education of the United Arab Emirates Ahmad Al Falasi, Minister of Youth and Sport of the Republic of Indonesia Ario Bimo Nandito Ariotejo. The guests supported the format and promised to promote it in their countries as soon as possible.
The Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Government thanked the guests for the visit and added that without Russian sport, world sport can hardly be considered complete.
“For the first time in the history of mankind, the Games of the Future will start in Kazan, a new format created by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The tournament unites the digital world and the world of real sports; it has found support in many countries around the world. A little less than a third of all countries in the world have become participants in the physical movement; in Russia, physical sports federations have been created in almost all regions. The Games themselves are very large-scale: 14 days of competition, 2 thousand athletes from more than 100 countries. We're also seeing a huge queue of TV companies, streamers and bloggers wanting to cover the sports programme. This suggests that our President’s idea is supported in the world, we got it right with this unique format and are happy to give it to the whole world free of charge,” said Dmitry Chernyshenko.
“We are proud that Russia is hosting this unique pioneer competition. In a short period of time, significant work has been done; the Russian parliament adopted a special federal law on holding the Games of the Future. We are glad that at this historical moment we, together with our foreign partners, are witnessing the beginning of a new movement, and we expect support from our colleagues in spreading the physical movement around the world. In these difficult, turbulent times, we continue to strengthen the national sports system, do not close ourselves off from interaction with international organizations, but see the priority task in ensuring a busy calendar and competitiveness of athletes. The Games of the Future are an excellent example of a major sporting event of a new format that Russia is actively hosting. I am convinced that holding competitions of this level is an excellent opportunity to express oneself, as well as strengthen friendly sports ties between countries,” said Oleg Matytsin.
In their speeches, the heads of foreign delegations expressed their support for Russia in the development of fijtal sport and the creation of new competition formats.
Ahmad Al Falasi thanked Russia for the Games of the Future as a gift to the international sports movement. The United Arab Emirates is proud to have the headquarters of the international fijital movement in the UAE, he added.
"Hosting such a unique tournament like the Future Games is an innovative idea that will help our children develop harmoniously. Our country has held many major events, but we do not have similar experience in organising specifically sports tournaments. Therefore, we do not rule out that the Games can become such an important experience for the UAE," said Ahmad Al Falasi.
"The Games of the Future is a breakthrough project. The combination of physical and digital sports will give an impetus to the development of sports, including fijital disciplines, in the future. Belarusian athletes are impressed by the level of competition organisation and hospitality. I am sure that with such a professional approach of the Russian Federation, which you have always used in the preparation of major international sporting events, we will succeed," said Sergey Kovalchuk.
“The Games of the Future are a combination of sports, technology and science, and in all these areas we see how the Russian Federation is successfully performing. The new unique project has great prospects in the near future. It is necessary to develop it, and the Republic of Uzbekistan became one of the first to support this format in its country. “We have an officially registered federation of physical sports,” said Adham Ikramov.
“Cuba is honored to participate in the Future Games. We express our gratitude to the Russian Federation for their support and for making the participation of our athletes possible. Since the signing of the plan of events, almost 20 exchanges have taken place between our countries; we consider them an important part of bilateral cooperation, as well as the holding of competitions in Cuba and Russia with the participation of athletes from the two countries. For our part, we confirm our participation in the BRICS Games and the Friendship Games in 2024,” emphasized Osvaldo Montillere.
“I hope this format will be a source of inspiration for the younger generation of Indonesia and will be a great platform to develop social connections and participate in sports activities. We launched a massive promotional campaign that gave Indonesian athletes the opportunity to apply and take part in international competitions such as the Future Games. We know that a strong school for training athletes has been formed in Russia. We hope that the experience of Russian colleagues can be applied in Indonesia,” said Ariotejo Nandito.
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