It has been proven that Tatarstan is rightfully called the sports capital of Russia.

      Report from the year-end press conference of the republic’s Minister of Sports Vladimir Leonov

      Photo: Ruslan Ishmukhametov

      Less than a week after the “Athlete of the Year — 2025” ceremony, the Ministry of Sport of Tatarstan gathered journalists to sum up the year. Some of Minister Vladimir Leonov’s talking points echoed those voiced at the ceremonial event, but there were also some insights. What achievements and results is sporting Tatarstan ending the year with — in a Realnoe Vremya feature.

      Tatarstan trends

      One of the popular padel centers in the city was chosen as the venue for the meeting with Minister Vladimir Leonov. This sport is rapidly gaining popularity worldwide, so although the choice was surprising to some, it made sense. The current realities are such that the Ministry of Sport more than other agencies is faced with the need to follow constantly changing trends in the world. And the word “trends” was, in the end, the one the official repeated most often at the event.

      Ruslan Ishmukhametov / realnoevremya.ru

      Leonov began his speech by calling 2025 a productive year for Tatarstan. Despite Russia’s suspension from international competitions, the republic managed to hold 70 major sporting events, including a record 13 national championships. In addition, Tatarstan athletes were among the first to receive neutral status to return to the world stage. Swimmer Andrey Minakov and gymnast Daniel Marinov have already won medals at world championships, while skiers Saveliy Korostelev, Darya Nepryayeva and ski jumper Danil Sadreev are only just preparing for medal starts. In essence, it was Tatarstan athletes who became “pioneers” of world tournaments in the era of sanctions and set a trend toward the restoration of the right to compete at the highest level.

      Leonov himself noted that over the past year Tatarstan focused on domestic championships. And in the coming year they plan to work on the athletes’ Olympic preparation.

      — As before, we are one of the leaders in the country in most sports areas: in infrastructure, athletes, clubs. And every year we prove that we are rightly called the sports capital of Russia. Over the year we held more than 70 large-scale events. Unfortunately, the situation today is such that no one is returning to us with world tournaments, we can only negotiate about returning to the international agenda. Therefore, Tatarstan focused on holding Russian championships — the highest level of competitions in the country, — Leonov said.

      At the same time, the minister shared a couple of insights. First, Kazan retains the right to host the European Aquatics Championships in 2028. Second, the republic’s authorities are negotiating to organize three major international projects in Tatarstan’s capital. One of them is the Youth Islamic Games, which this year were held in Saudi Arabia.

      Ruslan Ishmukhametov / realnoevremya.ru

      Of the upcoming major competitions, so far only domestic championships and national competitions are on the schedule. The most important will be the Summer Spartakiad of the Strongest, which will take place from August to September 2026. Sports are divided among four cities in the country. In Kazan, as part of the Spartakiad, competitions will be held in artistic gymnastics, rowing and canoeing, pistol shooting, rugby sevens, equestrian sports, skateboarding and women’s football.

      Among the headline events several stand out. In particular, a stage of the Russian Cup in cross-country skiing, the national cup in tennis, fencing and cue sports. For the first time Kazan will host biathlon competitions. For now Tatarstan has been entrusted with hosting the national championship, but Leonov expressed hope that by the end of next year a higher-level biathlon tournament will be held in the republic’s capital. Kazan will once again host the Russian championships in diving, swimming, badminton, judo and cycling, and the Russian golf championship is planned to be organized at two Tatarstan venues.

      24 billion rubles from the republican budget

      Over the past year the number of sports facilities in Tatarstan was brought to 12,000 units. Nineteen universal outdoor courts, four indoor arenas, an ice palace in the village of Karelino and five table tennis centers were commissioned. In addition, the Fencing Center was completed and construction continues on the Football Development Center based at football club Rubin. Another 21 sports facilities underwent major repairs as part of a capital repair program, with total expenditures exceeding 650 million rubles.

      In 2026 the republic plans to build 13 sports facilities at a cost of 700 million rubles. These include four football indoor arenas and nine universal courts. “Smart” courts are planned for Kazan, Bugulminsky and Nizhnekamsky districts, and GTO sites will appear in 12 municipalities.

      Artem Dergunov / realnoevremya.ru

      Regarding further construction prospects, Leonov expressed hope for the erection of a Weightlifting Center in Kazan. The Ministry is already working on selecting the location for the facility and on design documentation. Plans also include creating a sports hall in the republican capital and an indoor swimming pool in Kukmorsky District. But all this remains planned for the moment; questions remain about project implementation and securing financing for construction.

      The ministry managed over the year to increase funding for the sports sector and investments in infrastructure. The volume of republican budget expenditures on sport amounted to 24 billion rubles. It is striking that this sum is 3.4% of the consolidated republican budget compared with the usual figure of 2–2.5% for sectors.

      — We built a lot this year and repaired even more, we held large events. There are also expenses for the maintenance of sports facilities. And it should be borne in mind that federal budget funds are not included here. These are only Tatarstan’s expenditures on sport. There are also off-budget funds, although we do not count those figures — 500 million rubles for the construction of the Table Tennis Center, 150 million rubles for the Fencing Center and budgets of professional clubs, — Leonov specified.

      Ruslan Ishmukhametov / realnoevremya.ru

      To date, the provision of sports facilities to citizens stands at 72.5%. But the Ministry of Sport continues to work to increase this share among the population.

      — It is hard to attract any funds now. When there was the national project “Demography,” we took a lot of funding from there. This year the largest federal budget allocation was for the Football Development Center — 2 billion rubles. Next year federal money will go to the construction of the pool. But that’s not much for such purposes. There is no separate state program now, so we try to act selectively. There are practically no such large investment injections in sport, — Leonov said.

      All these investments helped increase the share of the population regularly practicing sport in the republic to 66.4%. A total of 90,852 people train in Tatarstan sports schools and 27 Olympic reserve schools operate. In high-performance sport, 1,005 Tatarstan athletes compete in the rosters of Russia’s national teams.

      Achievements of professional clubs and failures in football and hockey

      Professional clubs of the republic received a separate discussion. The best team in Tatarstan this past year was recognized as the rugby club Strela-Ak Bars. Tatarstan rugby players showed a result unique for the country this season, winning all three competitions — the championship, the Cup and the Russian Supercup.

      Artem Dergunov / realnoevremya.ru

      Significant changes are expected next year at KOS-Sintez. With Russia’s return to international water polo competitions, the Kazan team is planned to become the national team’s base club for preparation for Olympic qualification tournaments. The club itself will try to qualify for the European cups, where a high-quality performance is expected from them.

      The minister also noted the successful performances of volleyball clubs Zenit-Kazan and Dinamo-Ak Bars, the basketball club Krylya Barsa and field hockey teams. Regarding the men’s field hockey club Dynamo-Ak Bars, which became 23-time Russian champions, Leonov said that now the republic eagerly awaits achievements on the European stage. Leonov wished UNICS to win the VTB United League in the year of the club president Evgeny Bogachev’s 85th birthday, acknowledging his contributions to Tatarstan and Russian sport.

      But everyone was eagerly awaiting the minister’s remarks on Rubin and Ak Bars. There was nothing sensational — Leonov soberly assessed the footballers’ and hockey players’ results. In his words, these teams, which are brands of the republic, have a lot of work ahead. At the same time, he refused to comment on the possible resignation of Rashid Rakhimov from Rubin, referring journalists to the club’s management who are more competent on this issue.

      — Today Rubin creates competition for all the football giants; people have started to take us into account, the team has developed its own style. I want to believe that in the second part of the championship Rubin will become even stronger, and we will continue to cheer for them and wish them only victories, — the minister summarized.

      Ruslan Ishmukhametov / realnoevremya.ru

      At the end of the official part, Leonov expressed his gratitude to media representatives for actively covering sporting events in Tatarstan. Among those awarded were our colleagues from Realnoe Vremya — journalist Djaudat Abdullin and photographer Dinar Fatykhov.

      After that the minister invited everyone to the padel court, where those gathered were surprised by a game against invited world tennis star Veronika Kudermetova.

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      Ruslan Ishmukhametov

      Ruslan Ishmukhametov

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      Ruslan Ishmukhametov

      Ruslan Ishmukhametov

      Ruslan Ishmukhametov

      Ruslan Ishmukhametov

      Ruslan Ishmukhametov

      Zulfat Shafigullin