Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili today attended the opening of a sports compound in the village of Saguramo not far from Tbilisi. At the event, he presented a programme for the development of sports and said that the opposition has been constantly speaking about the government's intention to "put something in their pockets", failing to understand that the government "is not taking anything home, as "it is this country that is our home" and the sports facilities would belong to everyone, the TV said.

Saakashvili praised Georgian national football team coach Klaus Topmoller for the progress made and, drawing an indirect but clear parallel with the political situation in the country, said that, as soon as Topmoller started "establishing order" in Georgian football some people revolted against him, Rustavi-2 TV said.

In the same context, he recalled the late coach of the Tbilisi Dynamo football team in the late 1990s, Nodar Akhalkatsi, saying that there was a revolt against him too when he "touched" people who were supposed to be "untouchable".

The president said the government was doing all it could to develop sports in Georgia and urged all sportsmen now competing for other countries to act under the Georgian national flag, the television reported.

Prepared by BBC Monitoring