Alexander Katushev: some legislation points and the system of sports development in Russia and in South Korea are close enough

Recently the leaders of the South Korean foundation “Sport talents of the future generation” visited “The Russian Olympians Foundation” (which was founded by 15 leading Russian businessmen, the head of the Tutorial council is the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev). The executive director of “The Russian Olympians Foundation” Alexander Katushev told about the details to the Agency of sport information “All Sport”.

“South Korea has recently turned into one of the main competitors for Russia in winter sports, - Alexander Katushev ascertained. - According to the results of the previous season Korean athletes in the total medal count were even ahead of us. And we have found out during the visit of the leaders of the foundation “Sport talents of the future generation”, some points in the legislation and in the system of sports development in South Korea are close enough with ours. The system of sports development in South Korea is organized as follows. The Korean National Corporation, which was founded after the Olympic Games 1988 in Seoul, is engaged in gathering the money for developing physical culture and sports in the country. The money, and it is not small money, is brought to the Corporation from lotteries and sport lotto. The Corporation organizes its holding, and the gained money is distributed in conformity with the state policy. Together with this, there are separate sponsors’ contributions. Almost half of the professional sports in the South Korea is financed by the forces of two Corporations - Samsung and Hyundai. About 50 % of means, for the teams of South Korea in different kinds of sports, come from socially responsible business. The institute of the sport science of the South Korea, which has a well- remembered abbreviation KISS (Korean Institute of Sports Science), is engaged in creation and realization of the most advanced methods, and both in mass sports, and in professional sports”.

“At the same time they prepare the experts of different spheres: from coaches to sport managers, experts in marketing and other similar disciplines. The foundation “Sport talents of the future generation” was founded in 2007; it is financed mostly at the expense of the Korean national corporation, and closely connected with the Ministry of sports. The main difference of the South Korean foundation from us - it doesn’t give money in cash. It can pay for the training camp, the trip abroad - but in very rare cases athletes and coaches get the money in cash. On my question, if the South Korean Corporations, which finance sport, have tax privileges from the state, the answer was negative. Koreans don’t give tax privileges to the companies, which are sponsors in sports, although this question is under discussion. I didn’t ask just for nothing - because Russia is for the moment on the same stage. Even the president of the RF Dmitry Medvedev in his message to the Federal meeting noticed, that we have to free from taxes the corporations, which are engaged in sponsor's activity in sphere of developing of physical culture and sports. But discussion of the tax privileges isn’t the only parallel between Russia and South Korea in the sphere of development of sports. As we do, they work at the question of the State financing of National Olympic Committee. This question is discussed from the point of view of conformity to the local legislation, and from the charter of the International Olympic Committee”.