As part of the development programme for the training of Belarusian specialists to work on the second European Games, to be hosted in Minsk 2019, an NOC delegation paid a visit to the Russian International Olympic University in Sochi.

Head of the monitoring and development of Olympic sports for the NOC of Belarus Dmitry Dovgalenok, leading expert Alexei Carney, and member of the Permanent Commission on Culture, Olympic education and development Lyudmila Fokeeva, received information on the educational programmes of the university, its lectures and experience on the development of the Olympic Movement.

During their visit, the Belarus delegation toured the university campus, met with their Russian colleagues, and attended a lecture by sports marketing specialist John Tibbs, CEO of JTA (UK).

The parties discussed the possibility of tapping existing RIOU projects to improve the skills of people in the field of physical education and sports in the Republic of Belarus, including those who will be involved in the preparations and staging of the European Games in 2019.

The Russian International Olympic University” (RIOU) was jointly established by the Ministry of Sport of the Russian Federation, the Russian NOC, the IOC and the Sochi 2014 Organising Committee in 2009.

RIOU is the world’s first university dedicated to sports business education, offering programmes infused with Olympic values and experiences. RIOU’s activities concentrate on training specialists in sports management for the Russian and international sports industry, and the Olympic and Paralympic Movements.

Currently, the RIOU network includes more than ten leading universities in Austria, the UK, France, Finland, China and other countries.