Sport is not just about people’s health. The life expectancy of citizens, the demographic future and, therefore, the strength and sovereignty of the country depend on it, the President immediately stressed, when several new sports facilities in different parts of Russia were presented to him by videoconference.
“It is important that as many Russian citizens as possible, of all ages (adults, children, youth) choose these values for themselves, so that people throughout our country have the opportunity to regularly engage in sports and physical education” Putin said. saying.
In recent years, Russians have become increasingly involved in sports. 56.8% practice it systematically instead of 40%. “But this is still not enough,” the president admitted. It’s not always simple laziness that gets in people’s way. The state continues working to expand sports infrastructure to make it more accessible to the population. “We plan to build at least 350 sports facilities annually with federal support alone,” said the president. “First of all, in small cities and towns, these are universal complexes and prefabricated zones.” Over the next six years, at least 65 billion rubles will be allocated from the budget for these purposes.
The president said that at some point he would not have reached the standards of the Master of Sports of the USSR in judo and sambo if his family had to pay for everything, as they do now.
For some, sport becomes a true salvation, a new meaning to life. The Heroes of Our Time tournament began in Ufa on Thursday. Its participants are veterans of a special military operation who received combat wounds. Teams from eight regions (more than 60 participants) compete in six sports: table tennis, sitting volleyball, arm wrestling, archery, electronic weapons shooting and weightlifting.
Vladimir Putin met with the athletes and expressed confidence that nothing can stop the life and development of people with such character, who are not afraid to face bullets. “The fact that you have gone through the crucible of such serious and difficult trials, and the fact that you have not found yourself on the sidelines, but right here, in these beautiful halls, it seems to me that for some a new life will come. , despite all the worst, the seriousness that happened to them, including serious injuries,” the president supported the veterans. On behalf of the country, he assured his interlocutors that Russia would do everything possible to support them. “Thank you very much for not forgetting us,” one of the participants addressed the president. “All of Russia will always remember you,” Putin responded.
In his speech at the forum “Russia, a sporting power”, Vladimir Putin evaluated the current situation in world sport. And the theme of the plenary session, “Sport: a comprehensive vision of the future”, was ideal for this. The President agrees that the prospects for world sport really need serious and substantive debate. “In a joint search for an answer to the question of how to overcome the difficult challenges of our time, avoid a split in the international sports family, cleanse sport of vulgar politicization, double standards, perverted rules and humiliating discrimination, including in matters of the basis of the citizenship and nationality of athletes,” He emphasized.
Today it is already obvious, he said, that they are trying to make world sport and the Olympic movement not an arena for fair competitions, but a platform for geopolitical games, to instill a destructive neoliberal agenda, propaganda against natural norms and denial of traditional traditions. values by which the vast majority of countries and peoples on the planet have lived for thousands of years. But Russia, like the world majority, chooses a different path: the path of equality, openness and mutual respect in all types of cooperation.
– We promote new formats of cooperation, relying on the true ideals and principles of sport, and this is solidarity, justice, triumph of the human spirit, strength and intelligence, this is nobility and respect for the dignity of the opponent. We treat all opponents with respect,” Vladimir Putin said.
In recent years, Russia has held more than one international competition. All these initiatives, explained the Head of State, have become additional opportunities for athletes to demonstrate their skills in areas where sport is outside of politics. “The way we value and love him: free and honest, imbued with the spirit of friendship and unity,” Putin noted.
At a meeting of the Council for the Development of Physical Education and Sports, the role of non-governmental organizations in this work was discussed. According to the president, it is necessary to update the activities of sports federations, which are not limited to issues of professional sports and elite sports. “Therefore, the volume of support to federations from all sources should be linked, among other things, to their contribution to the development of mass, amateur, corporate, children’s and youth sports,” Putin believes.
The president asked to report on the measures that have been taken to address the problems of children and youth sports, mainly to stop its commercialization: “Even in formally free sections and training centers, parents are forced to spend substantial sums on the equipment for their children and rent playgrounds, pay sports fees and fees for participation in competitions, including those in which children receive sports categories and titles.” Yes, he agreed, in our time families, of course, in certain cases must and can participate in this co-financing. “But you have to know moderation in everything. Sometimes no one in our country perceives the limits,” Putin was outraged, citing some examples of how young athletes receive money for going to the fields.
“If at some point, when I was actively involved in sports, I had to pay for all this, I would never have met the standard of a Master of Sports of the Soviet Union in sambo and I would never have met the standard. Master of sports of the USSR in judo,” said the Head of State, adding that his family did not have a single cent more for it.
For children from large and low-income families there should be no contributions, especially when it comes to meeting regulatory requirements, the president demanded. He does not categorically accept the federation’s arguments that they do not have enough funds for everything: “Priorities must be determined correctly.” “We need to move away from excessive and unjustified financing of citizens,” Putin said.
