President of the Moscow Region Biathlon Federation Alexey Nuzhdov confirmed the information from the channel’s commentator Dmitry Guberniev that a club tournament between biathletes with a prize fund of 8 million rubles could take place in November.
According to Guberniev, the tournament could take place a week before the Alfa-Bank Russian Biathlon Cup, the first stage of which begins on November 23 in Khanty-Mansiysk. The Belarusians and two Chinese clubs have already expressed their desire to compete.
— There really is an idea for such a tournament. It was essentially born when the country’s leaders decided on the need to organize national tournaments, as representations abroad were limited. This means they must be executed. And as president of the regional federation, I roughly understand the state of the athletes. It is clear that competing for certificates and medals is good. But for adult athletes, it’s already a job: they earn a living for themselves and their families.
Previously, our best athletes understood that by performing regularly and with dignity at the World Cup and IBU Cup stages, one could have a certain level of income. And in words we heard statements from different levels of civil servants, but in reality I see salaries at the Social Security Center – regional and federal. The best athletes lost a lot of money. We can of course say that before, they did not give anything at all in Russian competitions, but this is a substitution of concepts. And now biathletes at national tournaments receive much less than at international competitions. And the interest will simply begin to disappear for a long time – they will understand that they simply cannot live on this money.
As a result, it was decided to do something in this regard. SBR said there would be no more prize money. So I thought we needed new tournaments. I was supported by the Belarusians, whose situation is even more difficult, because they only participate in the Commonwealth Cup. They are in general difficulty. As a result, they created a club and our federation of the Moscow region registered it. We jointly registered the Professional Biathlon League. We anticipate that other regions and countries will join us. For example, a Chinese club will come to the next competitions. They will participate.
Accordingly, we want to organize races for men and women on November 18 and 19, in which Belarusians, Chinese and Russians will participate. We are actively negotiating with the leadership of Khanty-Mansiysk at the level of the sports department and the vice-governor. We cannot say that there is a definitive solution. But we have everything ready: the money, the opportunities, the agreements. All that remains is to wait for the green light from regional leaders and put the competition on the calendar. Then we will hold it,” Nuzhdov told .
On October 2 and 3, the forum “Games of chance: contributions to sport” will take place in Moscow. The channel acts as media partner of the event.
Source : MatchTV
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