“Russia has a chance”: the business model of world sports is falling apart
There is no point in focusing on the barriers to changing sports citizenship. We need to look to the future and build a new model for the development of Russian sports, not tied to international federations and competitions that take place under the auspices of the IOC.
This opinion was expressed on air by the President of the Moscow Athletics Federation and former Vice President of the All-Russian Athletics Federation, Oleg Kurbatov, on NSN, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
“Our task now is not to create obstacles or these amounts will be there, they will not be of any great nature. We need to take care of our children.
Let's take a global look. There was the Soviet system, after which 30 years passed. And the athletes who grew up in the Soviet system are truly the guys who represented the country, defenders of the fatherland. What happened after the collapse of the Soviet Union? Capitalism, market relations, and here an athlete is already a profession. You make money. And here material interest becomes paramount, because a person thinks about how to live further, how to express himself,” he explained.
In general, the system of children's sports, as well as general education, should move from providing services to educating young people.
“Because we have very serious problems in athletics. We must hold Russian championships among athletes aged 12 and 14. Because in our country the Russian championship is held only at the age of 16. Because there is such a law, and this applies to different sports, allowing the holding of Russian championships for children if at this age there are competitions at the international level. Well, in tennis there are no problems, because in tennis up to 12 years old the European Cups are held. But a child is interested in competing. Therefore, it is necessary either to change the law, or to bring the sports leadership of the country in general or a number of organizations to the international level,” Kurbatov emphasized.
At the CIS Games in Minsk, an athletics team from Russia under the age of 15 competed, because adult athletes were banned from international competitions.
“All the leaders of the federations now understand that we need to go down and do competitions for 12, 14, 16 year olds. As soon as a child starts playing sports, he should already compete – from 4-6 years old. So that there is a competitive nature of the game. Otherwise, he won’t be interested,” Kurbatov is convinced.
Therefore, if 100 athletes leave Russia, they will free up space for the training of 1, much stronger and more resilient. This alone requires a restructuring of the sports development model.
“I have been in sports for a long time, as an athlete - more than 40 years. And for a very long time I could not understand why there was no model for the development of Russian sports. After the 90s, we became a capitalist periphery - the NBA and NHL were shown on TV, and our athletes began to earn money by going to international competitions.
What's happening now? Now, in principle, there is a struggle for sovereignty, as our competitions show, and new mechanisms are being launched that allow us to create a model for the development of Russian sports. Because the basis will still change now, and the main problems will now be with the International Olympic Committee in connection with the 2025 elections.
If the current president of the international athletics federation, Briton Sebastian Coe, wins this election, then we will have big problems until 2037, for all Russian sports. Because the person seems to take an anti-Russian, Russophobic position. Next year there will be big problems at the Olympic Games in Paris, because the economic situation is changing. Look at the big changes going on in the world.
Sports are an add-on. The basis of everything, the basis, is the economy, this is the market. And all this is changing. And in these conditions, we have a chance to take a place, build our own system, model and be a leader in this situation,” concluded the head of the Moscow Athletics Federation.
"Russia Has a Chance": The World Sports Business Model Is Falling Apart