On the eve of the international multisport tournament Games of the Future, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Dmitry Chernyshenko inspected the sports venues of Kazan and opened a phygital center in the Universiade Village on the basis of the Volga Region State University of Physical Culture, Sports and Tourism (PGUFKSiT). This is already the third such facility in Russia. Earlier, the phygital centers started operating in Kemerovo and Sevastopol.
The Deputy Prime Minister, together with the Minister of Sport of the Russian Federation Oleg Matytsin, the Minister of Sport of the Republic of Tatarstan Vladimir Leonov and the rector of PGUFKSiT Rafis Burganov, checked the capabilities of the phygital center, discussed its work and new training programs.
“We are at an important historical moment. Tomorrow the first Games of the Future in the history of mankind will open in Kazan. This is a completely new competition format, which is held in our country by decree of President Vladimir Putin. But the phygital movement is already striding across the planet. Federations have been organized in almost all regions of Russia, and, most interestingly, representative offices of this movement have already been opened in 63 countries of the world,” the Deputy Prime Minister said.
He added that it is very symbolic that a new phygital center has been opened in Kazan through the joint efforts of the Ministry of Sport of Russia and the Government of the Republic of Tatarstan.
“The Department of Information Systems, Technologies and Esports, which will now become the Department of Phygital, will train specialists working on the creation of methodological standards for the development of an even more harmonious person. The guys here master, for example, tactical combat in computer programs developed in our country, and then use laser tag to practice it in real conditions. Or they compete in a Russian football simulator, which is being developed with the support of Gazprom, and then show their skills on a real site. The combination of the physical and virtual worlds provides new advantages for the guys to improve even more quickly and dynamically,” Dmitry Chernyshenko noted.
“It is pleasant that the Volga Region State University has become one of the platforms for the development of phygital sports. This is a look into the future. We are talking about the formation of a methodological, scientific basis for the development of a new direction, a kind of sport. Students have the opportunity to develop their sports skills in the phygital center, which, in its turn, contributes to the formation of a harmonious personality. The Ministry of Sport of the Russian Federation actively develops phygital sports and provides the necessary conditions for the training and competitive process of athletes,” Oleg Matytsin added.
The Phygital Center is a sports ground that is a single space for practicing classical and digital sports. On the territory of the Volga Region State University of Physical Culture, Sports and Tourism, all the necessary infrastructure has been created for training and tournaments in phygital sports: a mini-football field, a streetball court and a workout area, as well as a digital space with a computer room, a game console and virtual reality area. The Kazan center will become the flagship center in the federal ecosystem “My Phygital”.
Dmitry Chernyshenko inspected the venues where the phygital competitions will be held: the playground in the IT Park, where the Battle tanks simulator tournament will be held, and the Ice Arena, where the Liga Stavok Phygital Hockey tournament has already started. In addition, the Deputy Prime Minister visited the Ak Bars Martial Arts Palace (Liga Stavok Phygital Fighting), the URAM extreme park, where competitions in Phygital BMX and Indoor Cycling will be held, as well as the Kazan Tennis Academy (three disciplines of three-dimensional tactical combat) and the playground for Phygital Basketball with SBER in Kazan Expo.
The inspection was attended by the First Deputy Minister of Sport of Russia Azat Kadyrov and the Chief of Staff of the Office of the Rais of the Republic of Tatarstan Asgat Safarov. The Commission spoke with the heads of all venues and highly appreciated the readiness of the venues for the competition.
The competitive program of Games of the Future started on February 19. On Wednesday, February 21, the tournaments will begin in the IT Park and Kazan Expo, where the Opening Ceremony of Games will also take place.