Opinions & Interviews

Lukashenko: Belarus could co-host Olympic Games with Russia or Ukraine

BREST, 6 September (BelTA) – Belarus could co-host the Olympics with Russia or Ukraine, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko told the media in Brest on 6 September, BelTA has learned.

The head of state mentioned the country’s hosting of large-scale sport events, including the 2nd European Games, the forthcoming Match Europe v USA, the IIHF World Championship, Belarus is expected to co-host with Latvia in 2021, and others.

“It is hard for us to compete with the giants [big countries], but we can host the Olympics, for example, together with Ukrainians or Russians. We have necessary facilities for the Olympic Games. We are going to build the National Football Stadium and a swimming facility. Russia has necessary football infrastructure. We can co-host the Olympics with them. We can host the Summer Olympics here, in Belarus, with the help of Russia or Ukraine. They have facilities we lack,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

The head of state stressed that the country benefits from hosting major sport events: “We are slowly learning, including how to receive guests properly. It is the face of the country, its image. Leading channels bought the rights to broadcast the games [2nd European Games].

Aleksandr Lukashenko added that funds were saved during the 2nd European Games in summer 2019. “We did not even utilize all the funds that were allocated. We have not lost anything. We gained,” he said.

The head of state emphasized that thanks to such sport events Belarus makes the best to establish itself as a good host country in order to be able to host such or even more significant competitions in the future. “Without this, there would be no world championships or World Cups here tomorrow. Everybody saw that we are a good host. People put their heart into it. Thousands, hundreds of thousands of people will come to Belarus. This is tourism we are striving to develop. We lay a good foundation for people to come to us, to be loved and respected, and for our athletes to make us happy,” said Aleksandr Lukashenko.

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