Russia’s Minister of Sport Vitaly Mutko meets with Kazan 2015 volunteers

In his welcome speech, Vitaly Mutko thanked kind-heartedly all the volunteers for their excellent work and stated that they are making a substantial contribution to the success of the World Championships. Kazan 2015 was dubbed as the best FINA World Championships ever staged mostly due to the volunteers’ coordinated teamwork and an atmosphere of friendliness and coziness that was created for all the participants and visitors at each sports venue of the Championships.

The volunteers have prepared a lot of questions to the Minister, but one of the most popular ones appeared to be ‘What is the future for sports volunteers after the World Championships in Kazan?’. Vitaly Mutko replied that sports and event volunteering will be developed further on and will get full support from the government. In the nearest years, Russia hosts an array of prominent international sporting events such as the IAAF World Junior Championships, FIFA Confederations Cup, FIFA World Cup and others. A number of events will also be held in Kazan, the sports capital of Russia. While talking to the Minister, the volunteers suggested the creation of a single database of volunteers and a special service that could inform all volunteers about volunteering opportunities at different events. They also asked the Minister about another hot and happening Russian project – Ready for Labour and Defence (GTO) fitness promotion system – and about the possibility of international internships for volunteers.

At the end of the meeting, volunteers thanked Vitaly Mutko for the opportunities that the participation in such high-profile projects grants them and presented the Minister with a Kazan Volunteers pin. Representatives of partner regions also received commendation letters from the Kazan 2015 Organising Committee for a successful cooperation in the build-up to the FINA World Championships and contribution to the volunteer programme. 

As we reported earlier, the volunteer programme of the 16th FINA World Championships was implemented at the federal level and includes volunteer teams from such non-profit regional partners as the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports of the Arkhangelsk Oblast, Ministry of Sports and Tourism of the Astrakhan Oblast, Ministry of Sports and Youth Policy of the Volgograd Oblast, Vyatka State University, Ministry of Physical Culture and Sports of the Krasnodar Krai, Ministry of Sports, Tourism and Youth Policy of the Krasnoyarsk Krai, Ministry of Sports of the Republic of Mari El, Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Mari El, Ministry of Sports and Physical Culture of the Republic of Mordovia, State Committee for Youth Affairs of the Republic of Mordovia, Moscow City Department of Culture, Ministry of Sports and Youth Policy of the Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Department for Physical Culture and Sports of the Novosibirsk Oblast, Ministry of Regional Policy of the Novosibirsk Oblast, Ministry of Physical Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Orenburg Oblast, Department for Physical Culture and Sports of the Primorsky Krai, Department for Youth Affairs of the Primorsky Krai, Ministry of Physical Culture and Sports of the Rostov Oblast, National State University of Physical Education, Sports and Health named after P.F. Lesgaft, Ministry of Physical Culture, Sports and Youth Policy of the Sverdlovsk Oblast, Ministry of Sports of the Samara Oblast, Department for Youth Affairs of the Samara Oblast, Ministry of Youth Policy, Sports and Tourism of the Saratov Oblast, Ministry of Physical Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Udmurt Republic, Ministry of Youth Affairs of the Udmurt Republic, Ministry of Physical Culture and Sports of the Chuvash Republic.

Press Office of Organising Committee for 16th FINA World Championships