Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has met Minister of Culture, Sport and Monument Protection Giorgi Gabashvili following the Georgian rugby team's valiant effort in a 14-10 loss to international powerhouse Ireland on 15 September.

The president expressed his admiration for how the Georgians played and noted that the team came just short of scoring one of the biggest upsets in rugby history. Saakashvili noted that the score of a rugby match does not always reflect the teams' level of play and that Georgia played at a very high level in Saturday's match.

The president pointed out that the international sports press was amazed by the Georgians' performance and instruct Gabashvili to devote time and resources to ensure the sport's development in Georgia.

"What we saw yesterday shows that rugby players and our country as a whole are in good shape to go into battle. I instruct you to ensure that ten top-level world-class rugby stadiums be built in Georgia in the coming years. There should be a league, which we will finance. These stadiums should be located in each and every one of Georgia's regions. We have the spirit necessary to do battle, now we must develop the technical side. This is a great advertisement for Georgia. Aside from football, no other sport is as well developed in Georgia. If we establish ourselves here, then our country will join the ranks of the leading sports countries in the world.

"I also want to congratulate our judo team. We must also build new judo halls in parallel and develop sports sections in schools. We must create the best possible conditions for coaches. Young people from both poor and rich families should not have any problems registering in these sections.

"All of these instructions should be included in a unified strategy for developing sport in Georgia. I wish our athletes success in future competitions," Saakashvili said.

press Office
of the President of Georgia