Sports in the Far East: Creating New Opportunities

7 September 2022

Sports in the Far East: Creating New Opportunities

KEY CONCLUSIONS

The sporting potential of the Far East needs to be unlocked, and plans for the development of physical culture and sport which have been adopted now need to be implemented

“Sport is not just something which comes under the purview of the Ministry of Sport; it forms a significant part of government policy. Sport helps make people healthy, successful, and patriotic, and helps ensure steady economic growth. Developing the Far East’s potential is not just about buildings and facilities. The biggest potential lies in the region’s people. Training personnel is a foundational element of developing sport in the Far East. We’re talking about instructors and coaches. And we should not forget about the potential of sports diplomacy. This is where athletes trained for Seoul and for Tokyo in 1964. There have been Olympic champions thanks to the training setup here and the unwavering attention given by the region’s governors. We see enormous potential here through the construction of infrastructure. The federal university should become a base for the development of mass sports. The university has more than 30,000 students, which is also key to fostering a culture of doing sports and leading a healthy lifestyle,” Oleg Matytsin, Minister of Sport of the Russian Federation.

“We are continuing to implement a plan covering physical culture and sport. This is so that despite all the sanctions and restrictions, the competitive process continues to run as planned, thereby enabling athletes to demonstrate their prowess. On the eve of the Eastern Economic Forum, Vladivostok hosted its first SUP tournament. More than 200 athletes from eight countries [took part – ed.]. This attests to the excellent potential of the Far East,” Dmitry Chernyshenko, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation.

Regions in the Far East need to build sporting ties with friendly countries and partners

“First of all, this [the Eastern Economic Forum – ed.] is a platform for building ties with our partners. There are a number of friendly countries with whom we are restarting relations. I’m speaking about countries in the SCO, BRICS, and the CIS. We hold joint events with them. Chess is one good example in terms of organization. An alliance has been built not under the auspices of FIDE [the International Chess Federation – ed.], but through an alternative [organization – ed.] which was set up,” Dmitry Chernyshenko, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation.

“Sport and the spirit of victory permeates everything here [in the Far East – ed.]. We must not lose this. We are holding talks with the BRICS and SCO nations to hold competitions and meetings here [in the Far East – ed.]. We are not isolating ourselves. The position of Russian President Vladimir Putin is that we are a self-sufficient sporting power. We have massive sporting resources, and have revived the Spartakiad movement. <...> A proposal has been submitted to the Government of the Russian Federation to establish national and regional sports training centres, [with – ed.] the Far East being prioritized,” Oleg Matytsin, Minister of Sport of the Russian Federation.

“I don’t believe that we should invariably be subject to the political agenda. From here [the Far East – ed.] it’s easy to fly to China, India, and South Korea. I think that it’s possible to create a centre for international life here. I am speaking primarily about chess. [I would like – ed.] chess players from friendly countries to come here. And this may be of interest to [representatives – ed.] from other fields of sport too,” Sergey Karyakin, Russian Chess Player, Chess Grandmaster; Member, Russian Public Chamber.

PROBLEMS

A lack of sporting infrastructure and equipment in the regions of the Far East

“Infrastructure is an issue. The question of master plans for cities in the Far East was raised yesterday at a meeting of the State Council Presidium [a meeting of the State Council Presidium on the development of tourism in the Russian Federation was held on 7 September at the Eastern Economic Forum – ed.]. They envisage recreation areas and tourist trails. <...> I think that it is important for the Ministry of Sport’s [facilities – ed.] to be included in the master plan. <...> [Around – ed.] 80% of our equipment is imported, so we need to quickly shift to [producing – ed.] things ourselves. Yesterday, the tourist industry asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to scrap duties on tourist-related equipment brought in from abroad. Cable cars are one example. The President responded that if we endlessly scrap import duties, we’ll never start producing things ourselves,” Igor Levitin, Aide to the President of the Russian Federation.

“There is no permanently operating chess club here in the Far East. I would very much like the leadership of the region to hear us and assign a chess club. There is demand for it among the chess-playing community,” Sergey Karyakin, Russian Chess Player, Chess Grandmaster; Member, Russian Public Chamber.

“There is a problem with import substitution. Curling stones, for example, are made exclusively in Scotland and Canada,” Dmitry Pristanskov, State Secretary – Vice President for Relations with Authorities and Administration, Norilsk Nickel.

“Unless we build business partnerships, some projects will be very difficult to implement. These include infrastructure projects, personnel training initiatives, and international cooperation. <...> Our position at the Ministry of Sport is that we want to understand which projects are being overseen by companies in the regions so that we can draw up a map of sporting infrastructure. We know that companies are building [sporting facilities – ed.], but we do not have an understanding of the overall sports budget – how much is being invested, and where. We do not have a clear picture of that,” Oleg Matytsin, Minister of Sport of the Russian Federation.

SOLUTIONS

Taking an inventory of the opportunities offered by the business sector in terms of developing sports and joining forces

“Under the auspices of the Ministry of Sport and under the careful mentorship of the Russian government, let’s try to take an inventory of the opportunities offered by companies in terms of developing sports. <...> I want to suggest to companies that joining forces is very much the right approach,” Sergey Shishkarev, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Delo Group of Companies; President, Russian Handball Federation.

“We will present specific proposals in the near future. Now is the time to integrate the work done by the government and business sector, so that the sports development strategy [Development Strategy for Physical Culture and Sport in the Russian Federation to 2030 – ed.] is implemented,” Oleg Matytsin, Minister of Sport of the Russian Federation.

“For us, for the business sector, investing in sport is a social investment. [Norilsk Nickel’s – ed.] total investment in the development of sports for 2021–2022 is more than RUB 4 billion. This year we are allocating more than RUB 2.5 billion. Norilsk Nickel has proven itself to be a reliable partner. We pay particular attention to sports for children and young people... we developed a separate programme to support Paralympic athletes as part of the Universiade in Krasnoyarsk,” Dmitry Pristanskov, State Secretary – Vice President for Relations with Authorities and Administration, Norilsk Nickel.

Constructing universal multifunctional venues which factor in the regional and climatic features of regions in the Far Eastern Federal District

“The line between sports, education, and leisure is being erased. If you now ask teenagers in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky what their favourite place is, they will say the Spartak stadium in the city centre. In the winter, the whole city descends to the Fatyanov [biathlon – ed.] complex. We need to move away from exclusively sporting facilities to multifunctional ones. Schools and villages not only need to have sports halls, but sports complexes where locals can go to. There are only a few of them at the moment,” Aleksandra Lebedeva, Deputy Chairman of the Government of Kamchatka Territory.

“The cost of construction [in the Far East – ed.] is around 30% higher than in the rest of Russia, and we are suffering because of it. We cannot use standard plans, because seismic factors, transport, and delivery of equipment must all be taken into account. In addition to major construction projects, we need modular constructions – they play a saving role in the harsh winter weather. We also need training programmes for coaches and instructors,” Aleksandra Lebedeva, Deputy Chairman of the Government of Kamchatka Territory.

For more information, visit the Roscongress Foundation’s Information and Analytical System at roscongress.org/en

Sports in the Far East: Creating New Opportunities

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