Foreign gymnasts will compete in Russia

MOSCOW, April 15, Pavel Levkovich. Foreign athletes confirmed their participation in the competition , which will be organized by the All-Russian Rhythmic Gymnastics Federation (WFHG) from April, said Irina Viner-Usmanova, president of the WFHG and head coach of the Russian national team. Earlier, the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) announced that Russian and Belarusian athletes were suspended from competitions under the auspices of the organization in connection with the events in Ukraine.» We understand what political challenges we must respond to in the field of elite sports. All formulated initiatives on sports issues, of course, must be supported. We would like to take the initiative to hold alternative series of international competitions similar to the World Cup and call them Russian Cups, of course, with the invitation of foreign participants who will be happy to come they have already been confirmed. For obvious reasons, not the first composition. The Ministry of Sports says that financing such competitions is impossible due to the fact that the compositions coming from abroad are not the main ones. The law does not provide for this,» Viner-Usmanova said at a government meeting with representatives of the Russian sports industry. «We need to increase the competition at least twice. This requires mandatory funding and support. Appropriate funding is needed to motivate athletes. It is also necessary to establish prize funds similar to those of Grand Prix, World Cups and so on. And it is also necessary to allocate funds for business trips of invited countries,» the head of the WFHG said.