Official website of the President of Russia

Документ   /

Apart from Russian athletes, the Ural Fighting Championship international tournament attracted participants from nine countries: Iran, Morocco, Uzbekistan, Portugal, Belgium, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Venezuela and the Netherlands.

* * *

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: I am delighted to see all of you here.

First, my congratulations on qualifying for this prestigious tournament.

There has been positive momentum in the development of sports in Russia, but I think that boxing has made even more progress than other sport disciplines. Moreover, it is a very spectacular sport on its own. We have always treated boxers in a special way in Russia and had special respect for them because this is the most spectacular and manly sports discipline. And, the truth is, women also compete in this sport these days, so I would like to apologise to the ladies for what I just said. Still, at the outset it was viewed as a masculine, gutsy sport and has always attracted much attention. It has not lost its spectacular and fascinating nature.

The Soviet Union and then Russia built a good boxing tradition. I wish you every success during today’s matches and in your sports careers in general.

My best wishes and all the best.

<…>