JANUARY 29, 2002

Russia to make more effort in sport

THE Russian State Council Presidium will meet today in Moscow under the chairmanship of President Vladimir Putin to discuss how to develop more sporting activities in Russia. This is seen to be an area in which there has been very little investment since the collapse of the Soviet system in 1991.

The government believes that the decline in sporting activities has led to poorer health and problems with crime and drug addiction amongst young people and is planning to look at ways of reversing these trends by raising the role of sport within Russia.

While much of the emphasis will go on physical sports such as athletics, there are likely to be discussions about the role that could be played by motorsport as Russia is planning for a Formula 1 Grand Prix in the southern suburbs of Moscow within two years. It remains to be seen whether the race will actually happen as all the financial details have to be sorted out and a place found on the F1 calendar but construction work is underway on Nagatino Island to build a F1-spec racing facility.