(KZN.RU,
June 23). The football economy and the development of professional and amateur
sports in Russia were discussed today at the KFU. The honorary participant of
the first international scientific conference, dedicated to the economy of
football, was Arkady Dvorkovich, the deputy prime minister of the RF.
Vasil
Shaikhraziev, the deputy prime minister of the RT, and Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor
of Kazan, also attended the event.
An event,
which attracted the attention of scientists from a dozen countries, is taking
place on the site of the Institute of Management, Economics, and Finance of the
KFU not by chance. Ilshat Gafurov, the rector of the KFU, drew attention to the
development of amateur sports and physical culture in his welcoming speech.
Russian universities, in particular, the KFU, have become the main users of the
infrastructure, created in preparation for several major sporting events.
In his
speech, Ilshat Gafurov reminded the audience why economic science should be
careful about the sport as an element of the development of the territory.
“Today, the sport is becoming not just an indispensable attribute of public life
but also an important branch of the economy. It involves significant financial
resources and a large number of manpower, and new models of sports management
and financing are constantly improving and developing”, said Ilshat Gafurov.
There are new econometric works studying the patterns of how and what macro
parameters affect the number of medals that the country wins at the Olympic
Games.
The
football economy occupies a special place in the system of the sciences of
sport and sports entrepreneurship.
The
Institute of Management, Economics, and Finance of the KFU are dealt with the
economy of sports in general and football in particular. There is a program of
master's training in the direction “Management and legal support of the sports
industry”. It is one of the few in Russia that trains specialists in the sphere
of sports.
In his
greeting, Arkady Dvorkovich raised questions, the answers to which are to be
found during the plenary session and sectional discussions of the conference.
The deputy
prime minister of Russia thanked the organizers of the conference, which are
the KFU, the Russian Economic School, and the Higher School of Economics.
“The
football economy has become a part of our life but has not yet become an
analytical discipline. We consider sport as a factor of economic and social
development including football for it’s the most popular sport”, noted A.
Dvorkovich. “All this allows us to transform our country. The business is
developing, the infrastructure is improving and the quality of life is
growing”.
Separately,
he expressed the hope that the constructed sports facilities will be
profitable.
“Football
in Russia is an investment of the state or state corporations, while the
geography and structure of the participants should increase”, Arkady Dvorkovich
expressed his opinion.
Kazan is an
excellent example of the impact of sports and football on the development of
the country and cities.
“It is
honorable for us that Kazan is one of the four cities hosting the
Confederations Cup. I can tell how sports events are changing the economy of
the city, its infrastructure on the example of our city”, said Ilsur Metshin,
the Mayor of Kazan. “Kazan before the Universiade, the championship on water
sports and the Confederation Cup and today’s Kazan are two different cities.
Students get new opportunities, and we all continue to learn. We have a great
desire to succeed in this and in the issues that will be mentioned at this
conference”.
Vasil
Shaikhraziyev, the deputy prime minister of the RT, agreed with this opinion.
“We are trying to keep everything under control in the republic: from
children's sports to professional”, he said. “We have developed a system of
multipurpose sports grounds. There are 40 ice palaces in the republic. Thus, we
give an opportunity to all to participate in the development of sports”.
“We do not
know whether the constructed sports facilities will once again repay of
themselves in monetary terms. It is more important for us that the residents of
the country are happy, and there were more of our compatriots on pedestals
during international competitions because this is an indicator of the health of
the nation”, added V. Shaikhraziev.
The
conference will last for two days. According to its results, a collection of
theses will be published, which will answer the questions posed by the
vice-premier. Also, the discussion participants will be able to attend one of
the matches of the Confederations Cup. On June 24, the Russian team will meet
with the national team of Mexico at the stadium “Kazan Arena”, reports the
press service of the KFU.