MINSK, 4 December (BelTA) – Belarus' Permanent Representative to the UN Valentin Rybakov delivered a statement at the United Nations General Assembly plenary meeting Sport for Development and Peace, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Valentin Rybakov emphasized the increasing role of physical education and sport in shaping healthy lifestyle and achieving sustainable development goals. He stressed that sport is inseparable from politics. Sport achievements help promote national image of states in the international arena. At the same time sport should remain politically neutral.
The head of the Belarusian mission drew attention of the participants of the meeting to main challenges that modern sport faces today, in particular doping and biased judging that violates the basic principle of fair play and deprives athletes of confidence in equal chances to win. Valentin Rybakov said that the International Olympic Committee plays an important role in the fight against modern negative tendencies in sports and should rely on the national Olympic committees, whose opinions cannot be ignored.
The Belarusian diplomat noted that health of people, development of physical education and sport are top priorities of Belarus' social policy. In his words, Belarus has been granted the right to host the 2nd European Games and the 2021 IIHF World Championship.
