Today, a visiting meeting of the State Duma Committee on Physical Culture and Sport was held in Kazan at the Volga Region University of Sport. The meeting was attended by Rustam Minnikhanov, Rais of Tatarstan, Alexei Morozov, Deputy Minister of Sport of Russia, Vladimir Leonov, Minister of Sport of the Republic of Tatarstan, and Rafis Burganov, Rector of the Volga Region University of Physical Culture, Sport and Tourism.
Dmitry Svischev, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Physical Culture and Sports, noted that earlier the Head of State had outlined the vector of sports development in the country, including children's and mass sports. He praised Tatarstan's experience in this sphere, noting the quality and diversity of sports facilities.
"This year Kazan hosted the first multi-sport "Games of the Future". This is a new, unique format that has aroused great interest worldwide. Athletes from 116 countries took part in the competition. There is no doubt that this tournament will become traditional. Yesterday, the BRICS Games, which are being held in Russia for the first time, started in the capital of the republic. Athletes from more than 90 countries are taking part in them. This proves that Russia is an open country that continues to host major international competitions," he added.
Rustam Minnikhanov thanked for the decision to hold the meeting in Kazan, which raises topical and important issues of physical culture and sports development of the whole country.
"We are honoured to host such a representative delegation. Thanks to sport, our republic, especially Kazan, has undergone a great transformation. The 2013 Summer Universiade was a landmark event. Its main legacy was a rich sports infrastructure. We are holding today's meeting in one of such Universiade legacy venues," Rais drew attention of the President of the Republic of Tatarstan.
He noted that the Universiade has contributed to the development of tourism in the region, and the hospitality infrastructure has been seriously transformed. Last year the capital of Tatarstan was already visited by 4 million guests.
"Today we are ready to host an event of any level. The Future Games were a great success, and the BRICS Games started yesterday. We are grateful to the President of Russia for his trust to host such a landmark large-scale sports competition," Rustam Minnikhanov said.
Rais of Tatarstan emphasised that the issues raised at the retreat are very important. The country's leadership pays great attention to the development of professional and mass sports.
"Today in Tatarstan 63% of the population is systematically engaged in physical culture and sports. All our sports facilities are in demand. We always support sport," Rustam Minnikhanov added.
Alexey Morozov, Deputy Minister of Sport of the Russian Federation, reported on the specifics of development of children's, youth and mass sports until 2030. He reminded that the President of Russia has set the task to involve 70 per cent of Russian citizens in systematic sports activities by 2030. "In Tatarstan, great attention is paid to the development of sports. In the republic, 63% of the population is systematically engaged in sports - that's more than 2.3 million people. This is a very serious figure, the result of tremendous work. The number of sports facilities in Tatarstan reaches 11,820, of which over 5,000 are in rural areas. We are also not staying on the sidelines. From 2019 to 2026, more than 5 billion 655 million rubles is envisaged for investments in the sports infrastructure of Tatarstan," added Alexei Morozov.
Vladimir Leonov, in turn, noted that Tatarstan sets a task to bring the number of people engaged in sports to 75%. "There are 140 federations for various sports working. The republic is assigned 35 basic sports, where we try to dominate. We have 164 sports schools. The salary of coaches-teachers in the republic averages 53 thousand rubles. This is not a bad indicator," the minister said.
He said that 957 athletes from Tatarstan are included in the Russian national team, and this figure is growing annually. Last year they won 965 medals. More than a thousand athletes receive monthly stipends. The republic's budget annually provides about 80 million roubles for these purposes. Coaches are allocated an amount equal to 50 per cent of the athletes' stipend.
"In terms of infrastructure, Kazan is ready to host the Olympic Games, we have everything for it. There are several title venues in the project. We are designing a fencing centre, it is a joint project with the Federation. We will build five table tennis centres, these projects are fully financed by the Federation, and we are bringing in communications. We are also designing a figure skating centre named after Alina Zagitova, she is our partner and will practice here," said Vladimir Leonov.
As for the BRICS Games, the head of the Ministry of Sport of the Republic noted that all the infrastructure involved in the competition had been upgraded for the start of the tournament. "You will visit these days, take a look - these are practically new facilities. About 4 billion rubles were allocated for the reconstruction. This is a big title project for us. Today the broadcasts on Match TV begin, they are also investing their resources. In addition, internet broadcasting has been organised," he added.
Ildar Gilmutdinov, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Nationalities, spoke about the development and preservation of national sports. He noted that today about 50 national sports are being developed in various regions of Russia. "They need to be supported, including at the legislative level, supported financially. Tatarstan has belt wrestling "koresh", international tournaments with a large number of participants are held," the MP said.
Rustam Minnikhanov, in turn, added that the republic has decided to publish a methodological manual on folk games and ethnosport, to actively use the sites of folk festivals to promote these games among young people.
Rais also stressed that in the current difficult conditions, when international sports organisations are trying to isolate Russia from world sports, partners from the Islamic world are actively maintaining ties with our country. Including in the field of sports. Joint sports events are being organised together with OIC member countries, including an ice hockey tournament with the participation of Islamic countries. The Islamic Youth Games are planned to be held in Kazan next year. "Many Islamic countries want to come to us. We have good contacts with the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, we are actively working with them. The Islamic Youth Games is another reason to demonstrate that Russia is not closed," Rustam Minnikhanov said.
