I am ready to be a lobbyist for sports in parliament and promote the proposals of colleagues - Vadim Devyatovsky
It is self-evident that modern sports are not just about training and competitions. Player transfers, international doping disputes, overweight fines, and much more are also attributes of sports life, and they must be taken into account in legislation.
Belarus has a law "On Physical Culture and Sports," but the House of Representatives plans to adopt a new bill in the first reading on April 17. Correspondent of BELTA discussed this document and, in general, what Belarusian sports lack at the legislative level with a famous athlete, and recently a deputy - Deputy Chairman of the Standing Commission of the House of Representatives on Health, Physical Culture, Family and Youth Policy, Vadim Devyatovsky.
- Why will a new law on sports be adopted in Belarus? What is wrong with the existing one?
- The current law was adopted back in 1993. A new version was adopted in 2003, and then some amendments were made, but a new document is still needed. It is already 2013, and life has shown that new problems arise that require solutions. For example, there are issues related to doping in sports, doping disputes, and I felt this myself. The new bill has articles dedicated to this problem. For the first time at the national legislative level, it is defined what is understood by doping in sports, the actions that are recognized as violations of anti-doping rules are fully listed, and the cases and procedure for doping control are specified. For the first time, norms on sports disqualification have been enshrined.
We need not just to improve the law, but to bring it into compliance with other legal acts and international treaties signed by the Belarusian side. These agreements must be observed. And in general, we need to consider what is happening in the world. When preparing the draft law, the developers also studied the experience of countries that are also improving their sports laws.
Another important point. In our country, in addition to the law on sports and physical culture, more than 100 other
Overall, as an athlete myself, I am familiar with many aspects related to sports. Of course, I have no doubt that the Ministry of Sport also perfectly understands the problems of our sport's development, and I will be happy to promote their proposals in the House of Representatives. I am ready to be a lobbyist for sports, to accept proposals from athletes, coaches, referees, and everyone interested in this field. I hope they will see in me a person who is ready to defend the interests of sports.
- The bill, in particular, introduces the concepts of "sport discipline," "sports referee," and "coach." How are sports relations currently regulated if such basic terms are not defined in the law?
- In my opinion, the absence of some of these terms is a minor gap. Yes, this needs to be specified. But I don't think anyone has had problems defining who a coach is. This could not have significantly affected the development of sports in the country.
However, the conceptual framework needs to be developed and clarified, which is what we have done in the text of the document. One cannot explain everything at once, but as an example, new terms such as "sport discipline," "sports training," "sports regulations," "sports reserve," "elite athlete," and "training process" can be mentioned.
- The draft law proposes the mandatory conclusion of agreements between the Ministry of Sport, the NOC, and national federations. What does this provide?
- The conclusion of agreements between these structures on the development of sports will make it possible to develop a specific sport. And these will be coordinated actions of all subjects. The Ministry of Sport will have to develop an approximate form of the agreement.
It is also important to note that only one federation will be able to obtain national status for a specific sport. A corresponding register will be maintained.
- How relevant is the problem of duplicate national federations for Belarus?
- We have had such examples before… This concerned figure skating and ice dancing. To prevent similar situations and conflicts, the bill introduces a norm that only one federation can obtain national status. I think it is fair when there is only one national federation. It will be the one to represent the country's interests at the international level, particularly in international sports organizations and at international sports events. National federations will also participate in developing a unified state policy for the development of their sports together with the NOC and the Ministry of Sport. They will be able to submit proposals to the ministry for the formation of national and Belarusian teams and ensure their training.
But no one is saying that other federations for the same sport cannot be created. This will be possible. The right to voluntary association is guaranteed by the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus. However, there will be only one national federation for each sport, I repeat.
- Amendments to some codes are included in the same package as the draft law. What do they change?
The second bill ensures the mutual consistency of the draft law "On Physical Culture and Sports" with the Labor Code and the Education Code by eliminating gaps and contradictions. These gaps are related to the absence in labor legislation of an additional ground for terminating an employment contract, including with those who carry out pedagogical activities in the field of physical culture and sports. The rights to carry out such activities will be limited precisely due to the entry into force of the new version of the law "On Physical Culture and Sports."
Certain gaps and contradictions related to education legislation governing the training of athletes in educational institutions of sports reserve, high-class athletes, and the implementation of pedagogical activities are being eliminated. These are mainly technical issues.
- Not so long ago, the media discussed the development of not just a new law, but an entire sports code...
- Yes. Authoritative publications wrote about it, and government officials spoke about it. As a result, a meeting was held in the House of Representatives chaired by the Deputy Chairman of the House of Representatives, Viktor Guminsky, with the participation of the Minister of Sports and Tourism, Alexander Shamko, the Advisor to the President on Physical Culture, Sports and Tourism Development, Maxim Ryzhenkov, the Chairman of the Supreme Economic Court and the Public Association "Belarusian Basketball Federation", Viktor Kamensky, who actively promoted the idea of the code, and other interested parties. However, I want to note that today, unlike the Sports Code, the draft law on physical culture and sports is not only ready but also has been worked out with a wide range of stakeholders. Its adoption, in my opinion, is the most optimal step. We will have the opportunity to see how it works, identify possible problem areas, and subsequently move closer to the development of the Sports Code. There are no contradictions between the idea of the code and the draft law. We are all working together and gradually moving towards a quality document on sports.
Vasily MALASHENKOV