MINSK, September 3. /TASS/. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has demanded that sports officials stop the next Olympics in Paris from turning into a total disaster as happened in Tokyo, the Presidential press service announced Friday.
"The Paris Olympics will take place in just three years. There will be no one to blame: the climate there is effectively the same as ours, even better. This is no Japan. God forbid we have one more failure like we had in Tokyo," Lukashenko said during a meeting on the development of sports.
Lukashenko noted that some athletes were even unable to perform at their previous levels during the Tokyo Olympics, although they could have won medals. Besides, he added, "middle-tier athletes" who got to the competition "suddenly started imposing conditions" [the Kristina Timanovskaya incident - TASS].
"This is a mess, a total lack of discipline. And there must be discipline," the president underscored.
Sports officials keep coming asking for support, Lukashenko said, adding that he has constantly been supportive. Meanwhile, preparations for the Olympics were given special attention, and everything was done for the athletes.
"You know the result. I understand that the competition has increased, and that we are unlikely to run better than African athletes. But we have always had good results in technical sports, such as athletics. Where have these schools gone to?" the President asked.
Lukashenko assured that athletes who show good results will be paid "good money."
"We will pay money, and good money. We will find money. But don’t even hope for that without good results. You will be responsible for the money you spent. I tell this to you as officials. There will be no more easy money," Lukashenko said.
Earlier, Belarusian Minister of Sport Sergey Kovalchuk gave a "C+" grade to the Belarusian performance in Tokyo. The athletes won 7 medals - one gold, 3 silver and 3 bronze.