Without any doubt, the country’s sports infrastructure and the favorable conditions provided have played a crucial role in this success. To gain insight into the present and future of Uzbek sports, we spoke with the Secretary General of the National Olympic Committee, Oybek Kasimov.
– WHAT CONCLUSIONS HAVE YOU DRAWN FROM THE RESULTS OF THE PARIS 2024 SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES?
– The Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games will be remembered as a historic milestone for Uzbekistan. Our delegation earned an impressive total of 8 gold, 2 silver, and 3 bronze medals in fiercely contested competitions with top athletes from 206 countries. With the final results, Uzbekistan ranked 13th globally in the overall standings and fourth in Asia, and finished first among the countries of the CIS, Central Asia, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the Organization of Turkic States. Our female athletes had last reached the podium at the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing 2008, when Ekaterina Khilko won a bronze medal in the trampoline event. In Paris, judoka Diyora Keldiyorova became the first Uzbekistani woman to be crowned Summer Olympic champion, thanks to her victory there. Additionally, taekwondo athlete Svetlana Osipova won a silver medal, while three of our athletes earned the title of two-time Olympic champion. Our national teams in judo, boxing, and taekwondo recorded their best-ever performances in Olympic history.
With the support of our government, the best conditions were provided for our national teams throughout the preparations for Paris 2024. As a result, we secured an Olympic qualification in a team sport for the first time: football. Following the Olympics, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev received the members of our delegation and outlined the tasks for the new Olympic cycle. The Ministry of Sports, together with sports federations and associations, has already started work on these assignments.
Achievements are one thing, but the Olympic Games also showed us where we need to work harder. In particular, we realized the need to refine training methodologies, build modern sports infrastructure, raise coaches’ qualifications and make sport even more popular among young people.
– IN WHAT WAYS IS THE STATE’S PARTICIPATION MANIFESTED DURING THE THOROUGH PREPARATION PROCESS FOR THE OLYMPIC GAMES?
– Our government strives to provide all necessary conditions to ensure our athletes can compete honorably in major multi-sport events. The core aspects of preparation include financial support for federations, selection of talented athletes, systematic Olympic-level training, recruitment of qualified specialists, and the organization of continuous training camps. The Presidential Decree issued on November 5, 2021, “On the Comprehensive Preparation of Uzbek Athletes for the 33rd Summer Olympic and 17th Paralympic Games in Paris (France) in 2024,” served as a framework for this work.
It is also noteworthy that we have a distinctive system for incentivizing athletes. For example, during the previous Olympic cycle, not only the Paris 2024 medalists were rewarded, but also the license holders and their coaches. Most importantly, this system has now been applied for the third Olympic cycle in a row.
– WHAT ARE THE PRIMARY SOURCES OF SPORTS FUNDING IN OUR COUNTRY?
– The Decree mentioned above sets out the medium- and long-term prospects for developing sports and educational institutions and for creating the conditions needed to nurture a reserve of Olympic and Paralympic athletes. Under this decree, a program to support the development of sports and educational institutions until 2025 was also approved.
In addition to state budget funding, sports financing is supported by sponsoring organizations. Within this system, funds are distributed to sports federations and associations via the Ministry of Sports and the National Olympic Committee. Furthermore, the federations and associations often have their own sponsors, whose participation helps develop particular sports.
The state places significant emphasis not only on professional sport but on mass sport as well. Events such as the “Five Initiatives Olympics” competitions among young people, physical fitness assessments for the general population, and mass competitions like the “Government Cup” for employees are all state-funded. This focus on mass sport is also critical for identifying talented young people for elite sport in the future.
– WHAT MECHANISMS ARE IN PLACE FOR MONITORING TARGETED AND TRANSPARENT EXPENDITURES OF FUNDS?
– In this regard, a dedicated system is in place for working with the National Olympic Committee, the Ministry of Sports, the Republican Higher Schools of Sports Excellence for specific disciplines, and the respective federations. Funds are allocated to the national teams based on the needs and requests of the federations and the recommendations of experts. This process is reviewed several times by the organizations mentioned above. Ultimately, a decision is made collectively, based on consensus.
Additionally, the National Olympic Committee regularly publishes quarterly expenditure reports on its website, and its financial activities are regularly audited by independent auditing firms.
Interview by Azamat MURODOV.
