While the question of Russian participation in the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris is still not settled, are we going to see something like a “Bi Games” emerge? In any case, the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, on Wednesday May 17, instructed the government to draft proposals for organizing, in 2024 in Russia, what he presents as the BRICS Games (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa).
These proposals should be drafted and presented by 1er July, according to the presidential decree published on the Kremlin’s website, Russian news agency TASS reports. Prime Minister Mikhail Michoustin was appointed to oversee the implementation of this presidential decree.
On May 2, during a government meeting with Mr Putin, Russian sports minister Oleg Matytsin suggested “ to organize the BRICS Games [en Russie] in 2024, when Russia will chair the BRICS”, emphasizing that such an event would be “very relevant, given the prospect of the expansion of the BRICS platform in terms of new member states”.
In February, South Africa’s Ambassador to BRICS, Anil Sooklal, said that Iran and Saudi Arabia are among the countries that have formally applied for membership and that others countries have expressed interest in joining, including Argentina, United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Egypt, Bahrain and Indonesia.
This Russian initiative comes as on March 28, despite the ongoing war in Ukraine, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) reiterated the recommendation it had made at the end of January to reinstate Russian (and Belarusian) athletes under the neutral, provided they did not actively support the war in Ukraine.
However, the IOC left the decision to apply this recommendation to international sports federations. He has not specified anything, at this stage, regarding the 2024 Games.