Opinions & Interviews

MINSK, 9 January (BelTA) – Belarus is ready to welcome top-level athletics competitions. Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko made the statement on 9 January as he met with President of the European Athletics Association Hansjorg Wirz, BelTA has learned.

“If you take interest in Belarus due to various meetings, conferences, international competitions taking place here, you can always count on us,” stated the Belarusian leader.

Alexander Lukashenko stressed that Belarus was ready to enable all the necessary conditions for holding international athletics competitions of the highest caliber. “We are capable of doing it and the recent ice hockey world championship proved it. It was the best world championship on record. Therefore, you can expect that the athletics forum that may take place here will be the world’s best,” said the Belarus President.

Alexander Lukashenko also thanked Hansjorg Wirz for the attention Belarus gets as far as the development of track and field athletics is concerned. “It is a major incentive for us to develop track and field athletics. I thank you for supporting our federation, for assistance with coach training, for sharing methods,” noted the head of state. “We have recently elected a new chairman of the athletics federation [Vadim Devyatovsky]. It was done because we would like to pay the most serious kind of attention to the development of athletics in our country”.

According to the President, there are very good traditions in the development of athletics sports in Belarus. “I think we will restore those schools and you will soon hear a lot of good things about Belarusian athletes,” added the Belarusian leader.

In turn, Hansjorg Wirz remarked that over the course of the few days he had spent in Belarus he had been able to personally see what Belarus has achieved in the development of sport infrastructure. “I am ready to agree with your statement that Belarus can welcome world-level competitions. Now we deem it our duty to accept your proposal and use Belarus for the sake of staging such events,” he said.