Russian athlete Daria Klixina. Photo: AFP.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for the creation of alternative tournaments to the Olympic Games, in view of the politicization of sports by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which excluded Russia from international competitions such as the Paris Olympic Games of 2024.
Since Russia started its special military operation in Ukraine, Russia has been subjected to economic, financial, and even sporting and cultural blockades. The fact that sports institutions have taken part in the Western-led de-Russification is considered by the Russian president as “a clear degradation” of culture, and therefore, in his opinion, the creation of alternative structures in the field of international sports has become inevitable.
The sports blockade has forced Russian athletes to change their citizenship. The Russian Ministry of Sports has records of at least 68 Russians who have changed their citizenship in order to be able to compete in the upcoming Olympics. Russia always occupies a prominent place at the medal table of the Olympic Games.
President Putin also proposed that in such alternative competitions, players should be awarded the same prize money as the Olympic Games. As a parallel event, the World Friendship Games has been proposed, which will be held during September 15-29, 2024 in Moscow and in Yekaterinburg, capital of the Urals.
In addition, the possibility of organizing the BRICS Games next year, and the Games of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which includes countries such as China, India, Pakistan and the Central Asian republics, is looming.
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC/AF/BLA
Misión Verdad
Misión Verdad is a Venezuelan investigative journalism website with a socialist perspective in defense of the Bolivarian Revolution
