The Friendship Games organized against Russia against the IOC will have the participation of 70 countries

The 2024 World Friendship Games will be held in Moscow and Yekaterinburg from September 15 to 29, just weeks after the end of the Olympic Games, which the Russian Olympic Committee is prohibited from attending, except under exceptional conditions for authorized neutral athletes. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has already accused Russia of “politicizing sport” and asked the sports world and the governments invited by Moscow “to reject any participation and support for this event”.

In the last few hours, Alexey Sorokin, director general of the WFG Organizing Committee, gave details about the Games: “It will be a record tournament in terms of size and preparation time. There will be 208 sports disciplines, 283 medals awarded and athletes from 70 countries. We have already signed an agreement with the International Friendship Association (IFA). We plan to hold a joint press conference soon,” he said.

Sorokin also confirmed that the Organizing Committee has already been formed and met under the chairmanship of Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko and Presidential Assistant Igor Levitin: “A bill on the Games has been submitted to the lower house of the Russian parliament. We hope that it will be adopted soon to create a solid legislative base,” he added.

The IOC does not criticize Russia for creating multi-sport competitions outside the Olympic arena (which already exist, such as the Commonwealth Games or the Francophonie Games), but for doing so through an “intense diplomatic offensive” and with direct contacts with “the governments of the entire world”.

“In order to make their purely political motivation even more evident, these Friendship Games deliberately evade sports organizations in their target countries”, denounces the IOC, which sees a “cynical attempt” to exploit athletes “for the purpose of political propaganda”, thus violating the Olympic Charter.

In response, Sorokin clarified that it is the athletes who are invited and not the countries: “Countries will be represented by athletes who are willing to participate. We expect athletes from at least 70 countries. That’s the least we can count on,” he said, adding that the sports infrastructure is now ready: “The competitions will be held in existing facilities and nothing will be built specifically for the Games, so everything is soon,” he stressed.