The result may be a decision to launch a new federal sports channel

Issues of the development of elite sports, legal regulation of professional sports and the activities of professional sports organizations will be the main topics of the next meeting of the Council for the Development of Physical Culture and Sports, which will be held today in Moscow under the leadership of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The meeting will also touch upon the problem of covering Russian sports on television in light of the possible creation of a new federal sports channel.

Photo: Dmitry Azarov, Kommersant / buy photo

At the meeting of the Presidential Council for Sports, according to the Minister of Sports of Russia and Deputy Chairman of the Council Vitaly Mutko, three main issues will be considered: the development of elite sports, training of reserves and professional sports. “The sports calendar is very busy, there are many events in June, the main one of which is the first European Games, starting on June 12 with the participation of a reputable team from Russia,” said Mr. Mutko.

It is expected that the meeting will also touch upon the topic of legionnaires and foreign specialists working in Russian elite sports. At the end of May, the Ministry of Sports proposed amending the bill on foreign players, according to which the department would approve foreign specialists in all sports. The amendments propose to clarify the wording of Article 1 of the bill in terms of establishing restrictions on the participation of athletes who do not have the right to compete for Russian national teams in international competitions and (or) in all-Russian competitions in team sports in cooperation with sports leagues.

Baku starts European Games

The most interesting, however, seems to be the likely discussion at the meeting of the issue of creating a new federal sports television channel, conversations about which have been going on in the television and sports environment for at least the entire last month. In particular, the president of the Zenit football club Alexander Dyukov recently spoke on this topic: “It will be great if the new federal sports channel, if created, will show football. It’ll be great if he broadcasts tour matches in the Premier League.”

“Great changes are taking place on our sports television,” Georgy Cherdantsev, the head of the current “Sport Plus,” a non-terrestrial television channel owned by the satellite operator NTV-Plus (part of Gazprom Media), told Sovetsky Sport on Friday. The channel “Russia 2” will take its place on frequencies owned by VGTRK, “Sport Plus”. The new channel could launch as early as September.”

Russian football remains in “Plus”

The fact that the issue of launching a public sports TV channel is indeed on the agenda of the State Council was confirmed by RBC and an employee of the press service of the Gazprom Media holding. In mid-May, Dmitry Chernyshenko, chairman of the board of the Gazprom-Media holding, said that he welcomed the increase in the amount of sports content on television. “If such decisions (on the launch of a new channel - Kommersant ) are made, and they can only be made at the political level, I think it would be a good gift for our fans and viewers,” the R-Sport agency quotes Mr. Chernyshenko " .

An RBC source claimed on the eve of the State Council meeting that the issue of Gazprom Media’s readiness to broadcast football matches on a public channel is being discussed. “If such an agreement is reached, “Russia 2” will cease to exist and a public sports channel will appear at Gazprom Media,” RBC quotes the words of its interlocutor, who emphasized that VGTRK is ready for such an outcome of events, but a final decision between the parties has not yet been reached . According to some reports, VGTRK is ready to part with the frequencies of “Russia 2” for 9 billion rubles. “Russia 2 itself as a business is worth nothing, the only question is how much Gazprom-Media will be willing to give for it,” says the source.

Arnold Kabanov

The State Council will discuss daily sports