Text of Emilia Slabunova’s speech in the State Duma

Emilia Slabunova FB page, 20.12.2017

Today I was supposed to speak at the “government’s hous” in the State Duma dedicated to the situation in the Russian sports and the participation of our country in the Olympics and the FIFA World Cup. It was envisaged that Pavel Kolobkov, Minister of Sports, and Vitaly Mutko, Vice Prime Minister supervising sports and Director of the Russian Football Union, had to speak before the Duma.

However, the “government’s hour” on this topic was canceled in less than 24 hours, as the officials refused to come.

I consider it my duty to publish the text of my speech, which I had to voice from the parliament’s tribune:

The removal of our team from the Olympics is a direct consequence of the irresponsible policy of the country’s leadership, which, in order to throw dust in the world’s eyes, made lies and the use of doping a state policy.

In order to never let our sportsmen and our whole country be humiliated in the international arena due to the fault of officials and functionaries, the ministers responsible for this – Pavel Kolobkov and Vitaly Mutko – should resign. And this should have been done immediately, rather than prmoting Mutko to the post of Deputy Chairman of the Government.

Giant expenditures for pompous events have been increasingly often bringing scandals instead of prestige: scandals around doping or around the price and quality of huge stadiums that are inaccessible to people, are expensive in maintenance and, therefore, are not needed.

The strategic goals of the country’s leadership in the field of sports are erroneous and vicious. They put a stake on the sport of setting records, rather than development of mass sports. But it is affordable and mass sport that forms the basis for future high results. In the Special Federal Programme for the Development of Physical Education and Sports in Russia, only 8 billion roubles out of the total of 74 billion rubles of federal expenditures are allocated for mass sports facilities, and over 45 billion rubles for commercial sports facilities.

The number of gyms in the country has been decreasing continuously: for the last five years their number has dropped by almost 2,500. Today, the level of provision of the population with sports facilities, based on a one-time capacity of sports facilities, is only 30 per cent.

An alternative to this [policy] would be widespread accessibility of children’s and youth sports. For example, in Moscow, Yabloko amendment has been in force for eight years in the city’s law on physical culture and sports, providing a 50 per cent discount to students for paid sports and fitness facilities. Such discounts should function in all the regions today, and in the perspective in three or five years, we can and should make sports completely gratuitous for new generations – from kindergarten to graduation from a university.

This requires a new budget policy: a fair distribution of tax revenues between the federal centre, the regions and local self-government, so that every city of Russia would have funds for decent payment of coaches work in the sports sections, building a required number of facilities for mass sports and equipping them according to the highest modern standards.

Along with healthcare, education, science, culture and protection of environment, children’s and youth sports should become one of the priorities of the budget. A child may not grow into a champion, but his health and his energy are part of the country’s energy, this is a most important part of the country’s potential.

And the task of state policy for the sport of records today should be, above all, creation of tax incentives for private sponsors. It is high time to finally ensure independence of the Olympic movement, its social nature, and real separation of sports federations from the state.

This is a matter of [government’s] responsibility before the people. It is high time for the state to return home, on earth, to its real duties: solution of today’s problems of people and creation of equal opportunities for all citizens of Russia.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/EmiliaSlabunova/posts/1804454096519667