MINSK, 4 April (BelTA) – Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko convened a meeting on 4 April to discuss support for physical culture and sports organizations, BelTA has learned.
“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. And you wouldn't have been here, sorry about that. I am not saying how great we are and how much we have done; what I mean is that there is not much return on these investments,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
“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.
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