Rustam Minnikhanov takes part in meeting of the working group to prepare a meeting of the Presidential Council for the Development of Physical Culture and Sport in Moscow

On March 17, during his working trip to Moscow Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov took part in a meeting of the working group held by Presidential Aide Igor Levitin to prepare a meeting of the Presidential Council for the Development of Physical Culture and Sport.

There were two issues on the agenda: main proposals to support the development of ice hockey in Russia, preparations for the 2016 World Ice Hockey Championships and preparations of the Russian Olympic team for the XXIII Olympic Games to be held in 2018 in the Republic of Korea.

The meeting discussed main areas for the development of ice-hokey in Russia submitted in the report made by Russian Ministry of Sports. In particular, it was proposed to intensify work for the preparation professional referees. It is also offered to develop a modern interactive course for remote training of coaches, including anti-doping activities. They also touched upon the revision of criteria for  coaches salaries.

The meeting participants noted that Tatarstan is a region with well-developed infrastructure for sports, particularly ice hockey.

Minnikhanov proposed to focus on such tasks as securing the best players and promising young athletes in home sports clubs. “It's no secret that successful young players leave the country to play for foreign teams. We need to find incentives for athletes to remain them in the country,” he said.

Russian Deputy Minister of Sport Natalia Parshikova, President of Russian Ice Hockey Federation Vladislav Tretiak, Secretary of the Presidential Council for the Development of Physical Culture and Sport  Aleksey Kulakovskii and other officials took part int the meeting.