Today, on September 10, Russian Minister of Sports, Oleg Matytsin, visited Kazan on a business trip. During his stay, he had a meeting with Rustam Minnikhanov, President of the Republic of Tatarstan. They discussed the challenges of promoting sport and fitness in the region, the progress of the Sport: a Norm of Life Federal Project (part of the Demographics National Project), the development of a state-of-the-art sports infrastructure, and the ways of encouraging the population to exercise regularly.
Oleg Matytsin also dedicated some of his time to awarding badges of honour to people from Kazan that had performed particularly well at GTO tests. This momentous event took place at the new open-air wellness complex, built in Kazan in order to meet the goals of the Sport: a Norm of Life National Project. Oleg Matytsin was accompanied by Vladimir Leonov, Minister of Sports of the Republic of Tatarstan; Alexander Dyukov, President of the Russian Football Association; and Ilsur Metshin, Mayor of Kazan.
The Russian Minister of Sports personally handed out 6 golden GTO pins during an official ceremony. The Directorate for Sports and Social Projects serves as the federal operator of the GTO complex. 51 GTO testing centre were opened in Tatarstan between 2015 and 2020. Over these five years, the sports promotion movement has been joined by 737,221 new members from Tatarstan; 451,340 of them took part in the GTO complex tests. In all, GTO pins have been awarded to as many 163,353 Tatarstan citizens throughout the entire period of promoting the GTO complex in the region, including 35,910 bronze pins, 59,321 silver pins, and 68,122 golden pins.
“We appreciate Tatarstan’s focus on sport and efforts to promote it among children and the general public. Our target number of people involved in sports and fitness by 2030 is 70% of Russian the population. We are delighted to see that the Sport: a Norm of Life Federal Project is letting more families and children become more fit, and enjoy the process too… Let us join together to exercise, spread the joy of sport, and make new friends. We need sport to become an integral part of our nation’s success,” said Oleg Matytsin.
The Minister’s visit to Kazan also included a meeting with the top executives of the Directorate for Sports and Social Projects, where he chairs the Supervisory Board. Maksim Denisov, CEO of the Directorate, gave Oleg Matytsin a report on current projects implemented by the organization. Furthermore, the Minister inspected the URAM Extreme Park, which is still under construction and is to become the venue of the First All-Russian Urban Games.
And finally, he paid a visit to the Volga Region State Academy of Physical Culture, Sport and Tourism, and he met with the operators and contributors of the FISU Volunteer Leaders Academy, an international education forum that had taken place in Kazan a few days before. The Minister spoke to the Volunteer Leader Academy representatives on the premises of the Volga Region State Academy of Physical Culture, Sport and Tourism.
Press office of Directorate for Sports and Social Projects
Source: Press Office of Ministry of Sports of Republic of Tatarstan