Not instead, but together

                                 Belarus and Russia continue
                            comprehensive sports rapprochement

The ridiculous attempts of politicians to inflict damage to our positions and smash Russian and Belarusian sports with the help of absurd sanctions have a visible opposite effect: any action is met by counteraction. Russian and Belarusian athletes are standing together in order not only to survive, but become even stronger amid total exclusion from the world sport calendar. Moscow hosted a joint meeting of the staffs of the Sport and Tourism Ministry of Belarus and the Ministry of Sport of the Russian Federation last week — a kind of sports headquarters for prompt response. The second meeting of the delegations took place in Minsk.

In the days of the Soviet Union, it has been said that it was more difficult to win the USSR Championship in almost any sport than to become the winner of the European or World Championship.

The competition was extremely tough. The level of skill of the participants was also high. There have been many missed opportunities over the years that they have been strenuously trying to divide us and cause a quarrel between us, but today the movement towards each other cannot be stopped.

There are already successful examples of the participation of Belarusian teams in joint leagues with Russia: in volleyball, basketball, hockey... The task of turning these particular cases into a common practice is on the agenda.

Belarusian Sport and Tourism Minister Sergei Kovalchuk sees the concrete and specific results of rapprochement, “We talked about the joint training of coaches, various educational programmes, the development of children’s and mass sports. We also considered the tasks of import substitution and the production of sports facilities and equipment. We have a large scope of activities, we discussed issues in 43 sports — the way we will work this year, as well as in the future. Somewhere joint leagues will be created, somewhere the stages of the Union State Cup will be held. Decisions have already been made on almost all athletic disciplines and a system of events has been developed.” 

Photo by BELTA  


Decisions are not specified yet, but the process, as they say, has begun. Additional interest and professional level of the competition will certainly be provided by the participation of athletes and teams from other countries in joint tournaments and leagues. Their involvement, as Sergei Kovalchuk noted, is also planned, “The possibility of holding tournaments with the BRICS countries is being considered — here we see an excellent platform for our athletes to compete with the best athletes from China, India, and these are professionals of a very decent level.”
Russian Minister of Sports Oleg Matytsin fully agrees with his colleague, “The participation of Belarusians in the Winter Paralympic Games in Khanty-Mansiysk proved once again that no political pressure can disrupt our ties and self-confidence. Belarus and Russia have a common view, we are standing against discrimination and the politicisation of sports. Each of the sports federations of our countries integrates its calendar into the schedule of the other. I think this year there will be a kind of pilot project for our co-operation. We have all the financial and organisational capabilities, and most importantly, the desire and experience.”
Let’s add to the above the fact that Belarusian sportsmen also take part in the Championship of Russia in Cross-country Skiing, which is being held in Syktyvkar these days. Our athletes will also take part in the Biathlon Championship in Tyumen, which started on March 30th. 

By Sergei Kanashits