Drachev urged to equalize the prize money in the regions after the “cry of the soul” Nigmatullina

Former president of the Russian Biathlon Union (RBU) Vladimir Drachev supported the biathlete Uliana Nigmatullina, who complained about the prize money for the Olympic Games medals.

Earlier, the biathlete told Match TV that she was ashamed to name the amount of prize money she received from the Udmurt Republic for the Olympic medals in Beijing, and she was offended that in other regions the payments for medals were higher. Nigmatullina at the 2022 Games won silver in the relay and bronze in the mixed relay.

– This is probably not a complaint, but a cry from the heart. I would like all of us to be equally paid for our sporting achievements – be it Khanty-Mansiysk, Tyumen, Moscow or St. Petersburg. But, alas, everything depends on the budget of the region, how much it can finance these achievements. The achievements of the athletes seem to be the same, but in fact it turns out that it is about ten times more. Unfortunately, this has always been the case.

But we understand that it is impossible to compare the budgets of Udmurtia and Tyumen, the budgets of oil regions and regions that, in fact, live on subsidies. This is the main problem. For Ulyana, this is unnatural and incomprehensible, since all these regional budgets do not concern her. As a human being, it can be understood.

We must ensure that regions such as Udmurtia, which bring in many athletes of the level of the Russian national team, do not suffer, but have some kind of advantage. Take, for example, Tyumen, which did not particularly have top-level athletes. But for now, she has these athletes. Tyumen does not cook children, but collects cream from the regions. Well, what does Khanty-Mansiysk have to do with Reztsova, who has always played for the Moscow Region? But she was lured away, and she gets much higher. It is clear that everyone is looking for places where it is more interesting.

Poor regions know how to prepare children, but then they cannot finance the victories that their athletes have achieved. This imbalance between regions must be unequivocally compensated so that athletes receive the same for the same achievements. If the budget of Udmurtia cannot cope, then it is necessary to compensate the athletes for the prize money through sponsorship, through sports federations. Such inequality between regions should not exist. Well done Ulyana for not being ashamed to talk about it. And officials should be ashamed,” Drachev told Match TV.

The head of the Biathlon Federation of the Udmurt Republic, Ivan Cherezov, told Match TV that in Udmurtia, 1 million 800 thousand rubles are due for Olympic gold, 1 million 250 thousand rubles for silver, and 750 thousand for bronze.