This opinion was presented by the European Olympic Committees President Patrick Hickey who took part in the University international workshop "Brand building and communications in sport". He said that special attention of sports communities in many countries is given to the creation of the Russian International Olympic University (RIOU). The World Olympic Movement will have a special educational institution to encourage sport development all over the world.
"At the moment the Olympic Movement faces new challenges. With the information revolution having been completed, we need to follow modern trends to get the youth interested in sport. In the Olympic Movement development, special attention should be paid to work with sponsors, partners, volunteers and spectaculars. We need highly qualified specialists who will be trained in the Russian International Olympic University" – Patrick Hickey said.
The Russian International Olympic University CEO Lev Belousov in his turn pointed out that "EOC President participation in our workshop is a great honour to the University. In the future we are planning to invite renowned sports functionaries, leaders of the Olympic Movement as teachers".
In the international RIOU course "Brand building and communications in sport", held in Sochi on 14-25 November, such well-known sports leaders as René Fasel (IOC member and IIHF President), David Eades, BBC broadcaster, Ukraine NOC Head, IOC member, an outstanding athlete Sergey Bubka also delivered their speeches.
Participants of RIOU programme «Brand Building and Communications in sport» came from 10 countries including the USA, Great Britain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Armenia, Jordan and South Korea. "This event became a real landmark for the Russian International Olympic University, as it is our first international educational programme. The results are inspiring, our two-week workshop turned out to be in high demand for specialists from different countries" – RIOU CEO Professor Lev Belousov said.
The first RIOU student from the United States was a member of the USA National Olympic Committee Vanessa Verbitsky, 25 years of age, from Colorado Springs.
- It is a great honour for me to come to study in Russia! I do hope that I will not only get a useful piece of information about brand building, but also meet representatives of sports organizations from different countries. Moreover I was curious to visit Sochi, the city where the Olympic Games 2014 will be held. A big delegation of American athletes is going to come here to participate in the competitions, - she said.
