A forum, Sports Against International Terrorism, gathered last Tuesday. Our correspondent asked Mr. Fetisov about its goals.
"Russia has colossal athletic traditions, and cannot stand aloof to that global problem," he replied. The forum was convened not out of fashion but came as a well-pondered event whose preparations had taken six months, added the sport boss.
"Sports can - and must - become an efficient tool of distracting kids from violence," he stressed. The State Sport Committee forum initiative has found support from the United Nations and UNESCO, "so we look forward to assistance from the global sporting public." A world forum under the same motto is expected to gather within the year in Munich - a symbolical venue. Many Olympic athletes fell victim to terrorists in that city, 1972, said Vyacheslav Fetisov.
