Meeting to discuss support for physical culture and sports organizations

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko convened a meeting on 4 April to discuss support for physical culture and sports organizations.

“I have invited you to professionally discuss how effectively we spend money on sports, in particular, game sports. We have developed a certain system of support for teams, coaches, athletes. We need to discard everything unnecessary and decide how we will proceed going forward. The government allocates huge funds for infrastructure, preferences, and children's sports. Had we gone the Western way, there would have been no sports in the country today,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

The President remarked that Belarusians show good results in a number of sports, including trampoline jumping, rhythmic gymnastics, canoeing and wrestling. 

“But we want victories in other sports as well. We have discussed the problems of team sports many times, but the situation has not changed much and many issues remain. We need a return on the money invested in sports. I am ready to discuss the uneven distribution of investments in individual sports. Many say: everything goes to hockey or football, not to our sport. We need to think about this too. And you need to understand that the money we spend or you spend on sports is not my money or your money. It is people's money. And people start asking: when will our teams stop racking up defeats and start delighting fans with a great game and, most importantly, victories?” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

As an example, the President cited the match between HC Dinamo Minsk and HC CSKA that took place at the Minsk Arena on 3 April. A large number of fans attended the match and the arena was filled to the brim. “You know what they came for,” he added. 

Aleksandr Lukashenko asked what had been done to sort things out, first of all, in team sports and what else needs to be done, how his instructions are being fulfilled and how the spending of public funds by clubs and federations is overseen.

“It is not a problem today to track where this money goes. Please finance your relatives, friends, mistresses out of your own pocket. Do clubs manage their funds fairly and effectively enough or do they simply burn them thoughtlessly? What do they use this money for? We will hold the Sports Ministry accountable for sports facilities that cost billions of rubles,” Aleksandr Lukashenko emphasized. 

The head of state went on saying: “Sports have received and will continue to receive the necessary support in our country, but every ruble invested must pay back. No progress, no money.” 
Aleksandr Lukashenko named the main formula of interaction between the state and athletes during the meeting. 

“The approach is inviolable: if you give results, you get money and, above all, decent salaries. If there is no result, there is no money. This is the main formula,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

The head of state noted that he had always talked about such an approach. “This is exactly what we will do. We need results. With no result, we will get nowhere,” the President said.

Aleksandr Lukashenko adheres to the same principle in other areas. “It cannot be like that that I demand from the government, from the new prime minister to secure economic growth. Or I demand from the head of the Administration to give me proper organization and so on. Or I demand progress in the social sector from the deputy prime minister. And at the same time you will feel relaxed about what you do. It cannot be like that. There is one criterion. If there is economic growth, then the government, the National Bank work well. If there are results in sport, then it is good,” the Belarusian leader said.

At the same time, the head of state stressed that close attention should be paid to train young athletes. The President asked what had been done to put things in order, first of all, in team sports and what more needed to be done, how his instructions were being carried out and how the use of public funds allocated to clubs and federations was controlled.

“I want to warn you, guys. It is not a problem today to track where this money goes. That's exactly what we are going to do. And I want to tell you the following: Please, finance your relatives, friends, mistresses out of your own pocket. Use your own money. Earn it wherever you want and use it to financially support them. This will be decent, manly. I think you will make the right conclusions from what I have said. Do clubs manage their funds fairly and effectively enough or do they simply burn them thoughtlessly? What do they use this money for? We will hold the Sports Ministry accountable for sports facilities that cost billions of rubles,” Aleksandr Lukashenko emphasized.