Mr. Son: Are athletes skipping breakfast to compete in provincial competitions?

(Baonghean.vn) - Accountant of the Cultural CenterAnh Son district has requested the provincial People's Council's supervisory delegation to provide an allowance of 120,000 VND per person per day for athletes competing in provincial competitions.

In their report to the provincial delegation, representatives from the district's cultural center stated that the current policies and regulations for sports activities are increasingly limited and inadequate. Specifically, regarding the allowance for athletes training and competing far from home, the accounting officer said: "With an allowance of 120,000 VND per person per day, athletes often have to skip breakfast on long trips."

The Provincial People's Council's supervisory delegation is monitoring the implementation of policies and regulations regarding sports activities in Anh Son district. Photo: Hoai Thu

Anh Son district currently has 20 stadiums at the commune level; at the village level, there are 228 sports fields, and 24 villages do not yet have sports fields. The total area planned for sports activities in Anh Son district is over 570,000 m².².

Reporting to the delegation, representatives from the Anh Son District People's Committee stated that the district had achieved several successes in its annual sports and physical education targets, including: ranking 12th out of 22 participating teams at the 6th Provincial Sports and Physical Education Congress; winning the championship cups in volleyball and tug-of-war at the 2013 Provincial Ethnic Minority Sports and Physical Education Competition…

Regarding annual expenditure on sports activities, the 2016 budget estimate was over 219 million VND, while the actual expenditure was over 345 million VND. The funding allocated for sports activities at the District Cultural Center in 2016 was over 246 million VND, bringing the total operating budget to nearly 320 million VND.

Regarding the social mobilization of sports activities, in 2016, Anh Son district mobilized more than 2 billion VND. This was mainly due to social mobilization for building infrastructure, people supporting their children's participation in village and hamlet sports competitions, and contributing to the purchase of facilities and equipment for competitions in villages and hamlets.

Regarding Anh Son district's proposals for adjustments to the limited policies and regulations for sports activities to align with market mechanisms, Mr. Nguyen Tu Phuong, Chairman of the Provincial Labor Union, questioned: "If the government stipulates increased policies and regulations for sports activities, specifically for athletes' training and competition allowances, will the district be able to balance and pay for them?"

Ms. Dinh Thi An Phong, a representative of the Nghi Loc District People's Council, raised concerns about the declining spending on sports activities in Anh Son District over the years. She questioned whether this indicated a decline in the district's sports and physical education movement. She also inquired about whether shortening training time to save costs would negatively impact the athletes' performance. Furthermore, she asked how the funds raised through social mobilization each year are being used.

The inspection team worked with the People's Committee of Anh Son district. Photo: Hoai Thu

Ms. Nguyen Thi Lan - Deputy Head of the Culture and Social Affairs Committee of the Provincial People's Council - requested the district to further discuss the difficulties encountered in formulating and approving plans for cultural and sports facilities, the practical implementation of annual training and professional skills development in physical education and sports, the organization of amateur training classes for athletes, and the plan for implementing the Government's project on physical education in schools, etc.

Responding to questions from the inspection team, a representative from the Anh Son District Department of Culture stated that due to limited funding, the district has to select which competitions to participate in each year, prioritizing major tournaments and focusing on a few disciplines with high achievements. The district has planned to build cultural centers in 21 communes, but currently 38 villages still lack cultural centers.

Representatives from the Department of Culture and Sports assessed Anh Son's achievements in sports activities as being among the highest in the province. However, reports and discussions from the district indicated that Anh Son has not fully utilized the mechanisms and policies stipulated by the province. They emphasized the need for careful study of guiding documents to effectively apply them and improve the quality of sports activities in the district.

Concluding the meeting, Ms. Nguyen Thi Lan acknowledged that the district's sports activities have achieved many high results annually, and that mass sports movements have developed strongly. Inspection and supervision work has received due attention.

In addition, the head of the monitoring team also noted that Anh Son district needs to develop work programs and plans, especially detailed budget estimates for each year for sports activities to proactively allocate funds; further promote the development of sports movements in schools, especially extracurricular activities. Furthermore, the district needs to continue developing high-performance sports, increase investment in infrastructure; and have a plan to further develop sports clubs...

Regarding the proposals from the local authorities, the working group has received them and will study them in order to report them to the relevant levels and sectors.

Hoai Thu