The message reads, in part:
“This year has been a time of remarkable large-scale sport events in Russia. The World Cup organised to the highest standard brought together dozens of national teams and millions of fans from around the world. We successfully hosted other prestigious international competitions that will be remembered for their atmosphere of honest, engaging and uncompromising rivalry. They convincingly demonstrated the great humanitarian and consolidating mission of sport. Such outstanding and impressive events make a huge contribution to promoting the values of an active and healthy lifestyle, and demonstrate the tremendous and coordinated efforts in Russia aimed at promoting physical fitness and developing elite sports.
I am confident that this forum will be an efficient platform for its participants to share experience, implement new and exciting ideas and projects that will involve different generations, especially young people, in physical fitness and sport.”
The Russia – Country of Sports Forum was established by Presidential Executive Order on July 27, 2009, for the development of physical fitness and sports, promotion of a healthy lifestyle and strengthening of international sports links.
The first forum took place on October 22−25, 2009, in Kazan. In the subsequent years, the forum was hosted by Moscow (2010), Saransk (2011), Yakutsk (2012), Cheboksary (2014) and the Dobrograd sports resort in Vladimir Region (2016).