The Olympics in Paris, alternative tournaments and the protection of the rights of Russians: what sports topics were covered on the fields of the EEF

Vladivostok is hosting the 7th Eastern Economic Forum this week, the main theme of which is “Towards a Multipolar World”.

The event is attended not only by officials and businessmen, but also by representatives of various sports, since today it is especially important to rebuild international relations in this area.

Under the sanctions imposed on Russian athletes, it is still unclear whether they will compete at the Paris Olympics, which will take place in two years.

WEF was not without competitions.

Grandmaster Sergey Karyakin held a session of a simultaneous game of chess.

He won in seven games, and one ended in a draw.

The Russians' rivals were the guests of the event.

Minister of Sports of the Russian Federation Oleg Matytsin, in turn, took part in the race in support of the Amur tigers.

Together with him, another 450 people came to the start.

“It has become a good sports tradition to start the first day of the forum with a race.

And this is natural, because the EEF-2022 has a large-scale sports program.

Sport, health and the economy are tightly connected.

And those events that will be held in Vladivostok symbolize the state policy in the field of sports.

We see as the main task the creation of the most comfortable conditions for playing sports, the formation of a healthy lifestyle, and this is the basis for the stable development of society, ”TASS quoted Matytsin as saying.

However, the sports community, of course, was more interested in the position of the country's leadership on key issues.

And first of all, the admission of Russians to the Games in Paris.

So far, according to the Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Dmitry Chernyshenko, all teams, despite the restrictions, continue to prepare for the tournament.

“It is conducted at our five federal sports bases and regional facilities.

On behalf of the President, we are rapidly replacing the venues where our national teams trained and which ended up in unfriendly countries.

Therefore, now is just the time to create them with us, especially in mid-mountain conditions for endurance training, ”Interfax quoted Chernyshenko as saying.

He believes that the Russians will perform at the main start of the four-year period and the former Minister of Sports of the Russian Federation Vitaly Mutko.

As the official noted, athletes should not give up.

“I think our athletes need to tune in and prepare for the Olympics.

The main qualifying competition will start in February.

I hope our guys will take part in them,” Mutko said.

Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov, in turn, stated the need to fight for the rights of athletes, including when communicating with the International Olympic Committee.

“As for relations with the IOC, in any case, of course, and the president has repeatedly spoken about this, we are all obliged in contacts, including with the IOC, and with other organizations, to continue to protect the interests of our athletes, which, in fact, is happening, ”RIA Novosti quoted Peskov as saying.

One of the positive moments on the way to the return of the Russians to the world stage, according to the Kremlin representative, was the re-election of Arkady Dvorkovich to the post of head of FIDE.

“It is very good that our compatriot remains the head of such an authoritative international sports organization, this in itself is quite unique,” ​​Peskov said.

In addition, Matytsin expressed the opinion that the organizers of the Hockey World Cup scheduled for 2024 are interested in the participation of the Russian team in it.

“Today, I don’t see any obstacles on our part for this project to be implemented... This is part of a large program of international cooperation, and it primarily involves dialogue and consideration of all interests.

I hope that our overseas partners will also take these principles into account when preparing projects,” the minister said.

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Answering the question whether there were any signals from the NHL about the possibility of Russia's participation in the Cup, he said that the Ministry of Sports did not have such information.

“But I hope that, in case of interest, we will provide maximum assistance to ensure the participation of our athletes,” Matytsin added.

The Russians are also expected at the Dakar rally-raid, Vladimir Chagin, head of the KAMAZ-master team, said on the sidelines of the forum.

“The organizers really want to see us in the race, but they can’t give a concrete answer yet.

But we are doing everything possible to participate in the legendary marathon, ”the specialist admitted in an interview with TASS.

While the struggle for the rights of Russian athletes is going on at the international level, it is planned to hold competitions with athletes from friendly countries inside the country.

“At various events with the participation of the president ... the topic of Russian sports was repeatedly discussed against the backdrop of the unprecedented sports restrictions that were introduced.

The President emphasized the need to introduce a whole system of internal competitions, expanded competitions with the participation of other, friendly countries,” said Dmitry Peskov.

In 2022, more than 210 international competitions in 50 sports were planned in Russia, including the Friendship Games and We Are Together.

So, if the sanctions are extended, then we can count on an increase in these numbers.

Officials pin special hopes on the Spartakiad of the strongest.

According to Matytsin, despite certain rough edges, the first tournament can be called successful.

“We agreed to conduct a preliminary analysis of the results with the federations and with the regions, when all the competitions are over, it will be October.

We also plan to devote a discussion to this issue at the forum "Russia - a sports power", which will be held in Kemerovo on September 28-30.

All recommendations related to the selection of athletes for participation in the Spartakiad will be taken into account.

Especially important is the experience of interaction between the federal center and the regions that ensure the holding of competitions, the use of bases, which, as a rule, meet international standards.

This is a certain review of our infrastructure and Russia's capabilities for holding major sports projects," the minister added.

At the same time, Matytsin added that Russia has not yet been able to return the money spent on organizing canceled major international tournaments.

“We are in the process.

Our national federations, those who filed claims, some of them are in the negotiation process with the international federation, so we hope for a successful solution, ”the official said.

The participants of the WEF also called a fallback in case the Russians were not allowed to the Olympics in Paris - holding alternative competitions, as was done with the Paralympics in Khanty-Mansiysk.

However, it remains to be hoped that this will not come to that.