Government dissatisfied with preparations for 2014 IIHF World Championship
05.02.2010 15:21
MINSK, 5 February (BelTA) – At a session of the 2014 IIHF World Championships organizing committee on 5 February, Prime Minister of Belarus Sergei Sidorsky expressed the dissatisfaction with the low pace of preparations for the 2014 IIHF World Championship.
According to the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Sports and Tourism has failed to provide a proper information support to the forthcoming tournament. “Your site features a countdown to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. It is good, but nobody knows how much time is left until the IIHF World Championship in Belarus. There is no such countdown on your site,” said Sergei Sidorky speaking to Minister of Sports and Tourism Oleg Kachan.
Sergei Sidorsky also criticized the low investment activity. “Have a look at Russia and its PR Sochi 2014 campaign. We agreed that we would choose the symbols of the championships in December 2009. We need them to let the world feel that the 2014 world championships will be held in Belarus. We need them to have investors compete for the right to take part in the preparations. Time flies and there is still a lot of work to be done ahead,” the Prime Minister said.
He urged the organizing committee to stick to the schedule. “It is important that the schedule is kept to. Since the very first day the things were under my control. We need to analyze who made mistakes and where. The Prime Minister expressed the dissatisfaction with the absence of the mascot of the championships. Oleg Kachan said the reason was low activity of general public and companies for whom the national ice hockey federation announced a contest. The contest was prolonged as there were few worthy proposals. The Minister of Sport and Tourist pledged that the mascot will be officially approved by 1 July 2010.
Sergei Sidorsky pointed to the significance of the prompt approval of the mascot in order to enable investors to win the right to use it on their products. The raised money can be injected in the infrastructure construction.
The Prime Minister was also puzzled by the fact that the lottery timed to the 2014 IIHF World Championships and which profits can be used as additional funds for the preparations had not been launched yet.
Oleg Kachan informed that a video about the IIHF World Championships in Minsk will be launched on TV on 1 March. The Ticket-Pro Company which distributed tickets for the KHL All-Star game at Minsk-Arena may act as the major ticket operator for the 2014 IIHF World Championships.
Government dissatisfied with preparations for 2014 IIHF World Championship