All in the same boat

The second edition of the International Scientific Congress was held in Minsk

The Belarusian State University of Physical Education is celebrating its 85th anniversary. On this occasion, the second edition of the international scientific congress ‘Values, Traditions and Innovations of Modern Sports’ was held in Minsk. 
At the solemn opening ceremony of the forum, the President of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Belarus Viktor Lukashenko stressed that the leading sports university has not only trained thousands of specialists who continue to make a huge contribution to the development of sports, but has also received international recognition over the years of its existence, “The faculty and staff carefully preserve and continue the best traditions of the university. A modern training base and competent specialists allow for high-quality training and ensure the educational process at a high level. Each of the students has opportunities for self-realisation, obtaining the necessary knowledge that they can apply in practice.”
The extensive programme includes thematic exhibitions, open discussion platforms, master classes, presentations, round tables and workshops. The speakers of the plenary session were Belarusian Sport and Tourism Minister Sergei Kovalchuk and his Russian colleague Oleg Matytsin — they focused on new opportunities, challenges, the state of world and Belarusian sports.

“Today politics is placed above sports, with politicians trying to pressure people through sports and implement their so-called values. But what is sport? What is it for? As I see it, it is meant to unite people, and even the IOC Olympic Charter spells out these principles. The people who are in charge of big sports today have mixed something up in this life, however. Instead of bringing people together and making sport a platform for friendship, they mix it up with politics. Sport without the athletes of Belarus and Russia is just fitness, regional-level tournaments, especially in canoe sprint, rhythmic gymnastics, trampoline, wrestling, and many others,” noted Sergei Kovalchuk.


The minister also emphasised the importance of Belarusian-Russian relations in sports and called not just interaction but friendship between our countries the main value, “Our Russian colleagues have a good term, which is proactive import substitution, and we are going in this direction. At our joint competitions, many results are higher than those at European championships. We are self-sufficient states, and we must make sure that we do not depend on anyone, that no one dictates the conditions to us. If we use the current situation correctly, we will take our sport to a new level.”
The world sport has lost a lot due to the suspension of the Belarusian and Russian athlete, Oleg Matytsin is convinced, “Belarus and Russia have a great potential for co-operation. The work of our sports federations as one team is an example for many countries, and we are proud that we have such a reliable partner. The level of hospitality in our countries is very high: states that can hold competitions as competently can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Everyone understands this, including the International Olympic Committee. It is obvious that the financial component without the participation of our athletes is now going down.”

By Irina Lukashik
Photos by BELTA