The RIOU looks to provide new knowledge and skills in relation to sports organisations, sports events and sports event management in order to create future managers in the Olympic Movement.

The MoC was signed by RIOU chief executive Professor Lev Belousov (pictured top, right) and Kazakhstan's Agency for Sport and Physical Culture chairman Erlan Kozhagapanov (pictured top, left) and it means that the Sochi-based institute will now support Kazakhstan in implementing educational programmes via a proactive outreach scheme and through its state-of-the-art campus.

"The development of sport in Kazakhstan requires not only talented coaches and athletes but highly qualified managers who can offer new ideas on developing our sports industry," said Kozhagapanov.

"That's why we are delighted to have RIOU as our partner and we are very grateful for the opportunity to harness the University's advanced teaching resources in sports management."


The tangible benefits the MoC will provide for sport in Kazakhstan include scientific and applied research run by international experts, officials claimed.

There will also be extensive educational provision for the next generation of Kazakhstani sports managers.

"The development of sport in Kazakhstan is generating more and more media attention thanks to positive results recorded by Kazakh athletes and teams at recent global events, particularly at the Olympic and Paralympic Games in London last summer," said Belousov.

"RIOU was founded by a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Sochi 2014 Organising Committee and the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC).

"Its mission is to ensure that leavers are equipped to become top sports managers anywhere in the world.

"Being based in Sochi, RIOU is in the unique position of being at the heart of next year's Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

"We will endeavour to transfer the skills and knowledge which we are learning about through Sochi's position as a sports hub to young Kazakh specialists so that, in turn, they can enhance Kazakhstan's sports development."

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