Russian International Olympic University (RIOU), an autonomous non-for-profit organization, was founded on October 21, 2009 under the Memorandum of Understanding between the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee, and the Russian Olympic Committee in accordance with the Russian governmental decree # 774.

The Ministry of Sport, Tourism and Youth Policy of the Russian Federation, the Russian Olympic Committee, the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee and the Interros Holding are the cofounders of the University. President Putin attended the University’s opening ceremony on September 16, 2013.

RIOU Goals and Purpose

The programs cover all major areas of sports education, including facility and infrastructure management, organization of competitions, mass communications, diplomacy, administration and athlete career development.

RIOU is a unique higher education institution that transforms the knowledge gained during the Olympic Games into educational products. The experience gained fr om organizing sports events on the scale of the Olympic Games provides a clear understanding of the modern management practice algorithms.

In 2010 the RIOU embarked on over ten educational programs under the contract with the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee. Since 2011 the University has been running continuous education programs for Russia’s regional sport managers, Olympstroy staff and Sochi municipal employees.

Integrated training of sport managers began in 2013 under the MSA – Master of Sports Administration - Programs. RIOU presented its new one-year Master of Sports Administration (MSA) training program at the Russia Sochi Park during the London Olympics in July 2012. Leading sports management experts fr om Russia and other countries developed the curriculum.

The University plans to open additional Masters level programs and a graduate school. Up to 500 students can study at the University at any given time, and up to 2000 students can receive training under the various programs throughout the year.

The RIOU has symbolic meaning as a project – it embodies the Olympic Games legacy. The University’s well-trained graduates will be in demand by Russian national and international Olympic and Paralympic movements, state and municipal bodies, sports clubs and federations, sporting goods manufacturers and sports marketing companies. 

The RIOU faculty includes well-known Russian and international experts in sports management. The University has been developing a network of partnerships with the leading universities in Russia and other countries. Among its partners today are the Moscow University of Industry and Finance, the Academy of the International Paralympic Committee and the Academy of International Sport in the UK, the Olympic Studies Center at the Autonomous University of Barcelona in Spain, the Kufstein University of Applied Sciences in Austria, and the Capilano University in Canada.

The University launched its own publishing operations in 2011, now producing a quarterly popular science RMOU Vestnik magazine and a series of books which include memoirs, archival materials, research on the history and philosophy of the Olympic movement and the best Russian and foreign textbooks on the various aspects of sport education.

Interros’s total investment in the construction of the RIOU complex is $500 mln. The project was paid for in part from the Interros’s own funds and in part by a long-term loan from Sberbank. Approximately $150 mln came from the Interros’s own capital and was budgeted as philanthropy.

On October 21, 2009 the cofounders of the Autonomous Non-Profit Organization Russian International Olympic University held a meeting at the Ministry of Sport, Tourism and Youth Policy, wh ere they made an official decision to create the RIOU. The Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation, the Russian Olympic Committee, the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee and Interros became University cofounders. 

The Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation registered the RIOU on December 24, 2009.

The first official announcement about the founding of the University was made in Vancouver on February 25, 2010 in the presence of Alexandr Zhukov, Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of Russia, Jacques Rogge, the head of the IOC, Dmitry Chernyshenko, the President of the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee, Prince Albert of Monaco and Vladimir Potanin, the President of Interros and the Chairman of the RIOU Supervisory Board.

The solemn RIOU foundation stone laying ceremony took place in Sochi on June 7, 2010. Vladimir Putin, the Head of the Government of the Russian Federation and the Chairman of the RIOU Board of Trustees and Jacques Rogge, the President of the International Olympic Committee, placed a time capsule with a message for future students in a memorial cube. The ceremony was attended by: Dmitry Kozak, Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation, Alexander Zhukov, President of the Russian Olympic Committee, Vladimir Mutko, Minister of Sports, Tourism and Youth Policy of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Chernyzhenko, President of the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee, Alexander Tkachev, Governor of Krasnodarsk Kray, Anatoly Pakhomov, the Head of city of Sochi and Vladimir Potanin, the President of Interros and the Chairman of the RIOU Supervisory Board.

The International Paralympic Committee, the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee and the RIOU signed a Memorandum of Understanding on June 11, 2010. The Memorandum was signed at the 2010 Conference, which was designed to disseminate lessons from the 2010 Olympic Games, wh ere the last day was entirely devoted to the Paralympic Games. Xavier Gonzalez, chief executive officer of the International Paralympic Committee, Dmitry Chernyzhenko, the President of the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee and Ivan Linkov, the RIOU Director General attended the solemn ceremony. The parties agreed to implement Sochi 2014 Excellence Educational Program. The organizers of the next Winter Games will train at the RIOU. The Olympic Committee is planning to adapt the program to the Russian realities and enrich it with its own material.