President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with President of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA Europe) Turgay Demirel. The main topic of the talks was the application for holding the European Men's Basketball Championship among national teams in 2025 (Eurobasket-2025) in Ukraine.
"For me, this is a very important meeting, because sports, and in particular Eurobasket, is now one of the important priorities for the state. In addition, such events and the victory in the struggle for the right to hold them unite the nation," the Head of State stressed.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy reminded that he has set several important tasks as President of Ukraine, and step by step the state is moving towards the corresponding results. Infrastructure development is among them, including the construction of roads and bridges, digitization and development of digital services, as well as the Healthy Ukraine program.
"The main goal of this program is to ensure that all people in Ukraine, especially children, have the opportunity to play sports and be involved in physical activity. Therefore, it is important that there are conditions, appropriate sports infrastructure," he said.
According to the President of Ukraine, for children to be interested in sports, they first of all need two things: sports infrastructure and examples of victories of Ukrainian champions.
The President assured Turgay Demirel that Ukraine will fulfill all the requirements necessary for the Eurobasket, in particular, the construction of sports arenas.
For his part, the FIBA Europe President thanked Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the initiative for Ukraine to apply for the European Men's Basketball Championship in 2025, and stressed that it was very inspiring for the Basketball Federation of Ukraine.
"I know how important such events are for national federations and for the whole nation," Turgay Demirel said.