Session to discuss development of summer sports

The development of sport has always been and still is a priority of Belarus’ state policy, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko said at the session held on 18 December to discuss the development of summer sports.

“Good results in sport are the main indicator. Other things are idle talk,” the Belarusian leader said. “Sport is not a lottery. Every victory relies on the hard work of professional people - athletes, coaches, doctors, researchers. Results depend on the resolution of pending systemic issues and the fulfillment of corresponding instructions.”

The president deemed it necessary to ensure maximum efficiency of government investments in sport. “If you determined priority sports, please inject major human and material resources in these sports,” he said.

“Everything should be in sync at all levels and in all aspects: in personnel training, specialization of sports schools, information coverage, financing,” the head of state said.

According to Aleksandr Lukashenko, in Soviet times much attention was drawn to ideology, the goal was to affect as many people as possible. “Verbal influence was the main thing. As you know, times change. And the role of words is still big. I believe that the conversations with people are the crucial factor of influence. However, a new factor of mass influence emerged. Normal ideology is what we need now,” the Belarusian leader said.

“Sport is the foundation of ideology. Without idle talks, and a thousand of words, an athlete or a group of athletes comes to the limelight (this does not pertain to our ice hockey players, both teams, who have recently failed), and the national anthem is played in honor of this athlete or a group of athletes, we can even say in honor of the entire nation. Such occasions lift people’s moods, and you know it. This is the reason for the special attention of the government and me personally to sport.”

The president said that the results in summer sports leave much to be desired in spite of the level of support provided to these sports. The results of Belarusian rowers, trampoline gymnasts and wrestlers were quite good. “It seems that the season in women’s tennis was rather successful, but it is still necessary to address a few issues in this sport,” Aleksandr Lukashenko remarked.

At the same time, he stressed that representatives of such traditionally strong sports for Belarus as shooting, gymnastics, track and field, fencing, swimming won only a few medals at the international level. “The results in team sports are even worse. I have already said about ice hockey. The same can be said about football except for FC BATE,” the head of state said.

The president deemed it necessary to focus on every sport rather than the conversation about a certain sports vertical. “I am tired of such talks. That is not the issue. We don’t need more verticals,” he stressed.

Aleksandr Lukashenko also asked about the performance of sports federations, the majority of which are led by famous specialists in those fields. He stressed that they have all conditions for productive work, but certain people are more focused on personal matters rather than on their sports.

The president instructed to create necessary conditions for talented athletes, especially top athletes.